Resurrection: Wake the Dead
by Thinker
Summary: The Digidestined must face an enemy that can resurrect their dead foes by transforming normal humans into deadly enemies. Now, their best friends can be their worst enemies as they approach what could be the darkest day of their lives...
1. One More Time

_(A/N:This story is the third and final installment of the "Resurrection" trilogy.This won't be like the Alien movies, with there being a fourth one called… uh… "Resurrection:Resurrection."That'd just be excessive.Anyway, this is based on the first two, but it is not necessary to read them to understand this one.The first two were part of my A.D. series, and the second was written by the very talented Ryan Berke, who I thank for sparking my interest in this story and for being a heck of an apprentice to boot.)_

_ _

Resurrection 3, Part 1

** **

**"One More Time"**

** **

The cool night wind blew all around him as he stared at the city in the distance.Tokyo glowed brightly, like a million gleaming jewels floating upon a black sea on the horizon.Although his business was in that place, he had no reason to be there.He could accomplish all he needed to from anywhere he chose.

He sighed regretfully.It was so beautiful and so bright, even from where he stood, miles away in the mountains.All he wanted was some peace of mind, to appreciate beauty and enjoy life.Unfortunately, that could never be as long as this was all here.Death haunted him wherever he went, haunted him even now as the chorus of a thousand voices refused to leave him alone.

_Soon, _he told himself._Soon, the pain will leave me.No more death to plague me.All that is required is the death of a few humans.No matter what, this will end soon.I just have to do this one more time…_

The next morning, six children walked amid the crowd in the park.There was a festival going on and many performers lined the sidewalks, showing off their various talents.It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining overhead.The air had the slight chill of autumn and they all knew it wouldn't be long before it would be too cold to venture outside without jackets.They walked in a close-knit group as they went from one performer to the next.

They were, unbeknownst to the average person, six very special children with lives far removed from those of normal children their age.To some, they were just a group of friends.But to those who knew better, they were the Digidestined.

Davis, who was normally at the head of the group, was keeping close to Kari, who was accompanied by TK on her right.Nearby, Yolei was energetically looking around for something interesting, which left Cody and Ken following the rest, keeping to themselves, looking around without much interest.In their arms, they carried several small creatures, which most supposed were stuffed animals, but were in fact nothing of the kind.

"Hey, Kari, a caricature artist!" Davis exclaimed."You should have her draw your picture!After all," he beamed, turning on as much charm as he could muster, "there's no way it could turn out badly."

Kari smiled."Good idea!" she agreed."They've got a two-for-one deal.Let's go, TK!"

"Huh?" Davis asked, slack-jawed as TK was dragged, not entirely unwillingly, over to the artist.

"Oh, don't worry about it, Davis," Yolei soothed, pulling him in a different direction."There's a clown juggling pins over there.I think he's going to try for six of them at a time!"

"I don't wanna see some stupid clown!" he protested in vain, as the bespectacled girl hauled him towards the clown, Ken and Cody following closely behind.

"Just out of curiosity, has he always acted like this?" Ken asked Cody.

"As long as I've known him," Cody replied, cracking a smile in spite of himself.

The clown was up to four pins and a significant number of people had gathered around to watch, obviously impressed with his skill.Davis was sulking and kept glancing over his shoulder, constantly noticing the way TK and Kari laughed so easily around each other.

"Aw, don't be sad, Davis," DemiVeemon comforted quietly from his arms."This clown guy is pretty good!"

Davis looked down at his little blue companion."Remember how we talked and you agreed to keep quiet?"

DemiVeemon nodded sullenly.

"Okay, and… here's…. five!" the clown proclaimed, snatching up the fifth pin and juggling them all with surprising ease.The crowd applauded, save for Davis, as the clown began to eye the sixth.

"Well, this next part's really difficult, folks," the clown told them, smiling with painted red lips and wiggling his red nose."But, if I can do it, prepare to be stunned."

The crowd waited with anticipation, especially Yolei, who seemed particularly enthralled with his performance.

"And one… two—"

Then, quite suddenly, the clown seemed to shift, to melt and reform, changing into a new, yet not wholly different form.

The floppy shoes and baggy pants were gone, as was the colorful makeup and bright painted smile.In their place were yellow boots and a tall man wearing a red suit and a mask which was half-white, half-black.He let the pins drop to the ground before the astonished crowd.His black lips curled up into a cruel grin.

"Well, wasn't that a good trick, boys and girls?" the clown asked in a high, lilting voice.Some members of the crowd clapped uncertainly.

Davis, Yolei, Ken and Cody all stood in wide-eyed wonder."That… can't be…" Cody breathed.

"Isn't that… the older kids said that… but… it can't be!" Yolei stammered.

"Well, for my next trick," the clown went on, "I will make a young boy disappear.Permanently!"

The clown muscled his way through the crowd, but Yolei found her self standing fast before him."Hold it right there, mister!You—oof!" she grunted as the clown shoved her roughly out of the way.

"Yolei!" Ken cried, rushing to catch her before she fell.

"Wait your turn, kiddies, this is personal," the clown told them haughtily.Then they saw who they were walking towards.

"TK!Kari!Look out!" Cody called to them.

The two looked up from where they were and saw the one approaching them in horror.

"Piedmon!" Kari screamed.

TK got up from the chair he sat in as the artist drew and looked at their enemy with determination.Patamon, sensing the danger and becoming animated, took to the air.

"What do you want with us, Piedmon?" TK demanded.

"Oh, you silly boy, this doesn't concern the rest right now," Piedmon laughed, leaping into the air."It was you who destroyed me, and I've come to return the favor!Trump sword!"

TK leapt to the side as several swords embedded themselves in the ground where he'd stood moments ago."Boom bubble!" attacked Patamon protectively.

Piedmon was unfazed by the weak attack and, with astonishing speed, rushed over to Patamon and swatted him from the air, almost indifferently."Not even you," he growled, "are worth what little time I have.I want the boy's life."

TK, realizing the severity of the situation, turned and bolted from the clown, who drew a sword and chased him furiously.

"We've got to help him!" Kari yelled, drawing her D3 from her waist."Digi-armor energize!"

Gatomon began to glow as she changed in size and shape."Gatomon armor digivolve to… Nefertimon!"

The winged, angelic feline bowed slightly as Kari climbed upon her back and the two flew off in pursuit of their foe.

Taking their cue, the four in-training digimon leapt from their partners' arms and digivolved as well.In less time than it takes to speak of it, Veemon, Hawkmon, Armadillomon, and Wormmon stood in place of their diminutive forms.

"Why's that reject from a deck of cards chasing TK?" Davis asked aloud as he and the others ran to their friend's aid.

"We'll ask him after we save him!" Cody shouted.

TK, meanwhile, was running as fast as he could, his heart thudding in his chest as his legs pounded the ground furiously.It was not fast enough, however, and he suddenly found himself clutched about the neck by the demented clown.

"You've gotten a bit bigger since the last time I saw you, little boy," Piedmon remarked."You were so much cuter then.I think I'll take a few inches off you!"He laughed and reached for a sword as TK struggled futilely.

"Rosetta stone!"Following the cry, a large stone tablet cracked Piedmon in the back of his head, causing him to stumble forward, releasing TK, who dropped to the ground gasping for breath.

Unperturbed and almost as an afterthought, he raised one hand, yelling out "Clown trick!" sending a ball of energy into Nefertimon, knocking her and Kari out of the air and to the ground as well.

"Kari!" Davis exclaimed, rushing to the girl's side.

While the others were temporarily busied with checking on Kari and Gatomon, Piedmon raised his sword and stood over his quarry.

"No more interruptions," he growled."Let's see how tall you stand without a head!"

TK raised his arms defensively, scrunching his eyes shut and gritting his teeth in preparation for what he knew was coming.Then, he felt the weight of his adversary as he fell on him and screamed in terror.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself unscathed.Piedmon was gone.In his place, the juggling clown was unconsciously collapsed on top of him.Grunting and shifting the clown off him, he stood and went to his relieved friends.

"Was that…?" Cody asked.

"Piedmon," TK answered.

"I thought he was one of the Dark Master's you and the other original Digidestined defeated," Yolei remarked.

"He was," Kari replied, checking TK's neck for wounds."He was destroyed when Patamon digivolved to MagnaAngemon.

"That's impossible," Ken declared."If you'd defeated him he would be gone.This must have been something else.An illusion, or—"

"No," TK denied, shaking his head."It was him."

"Oh, and what makes you so sure it was the same guy, TF?" Davis demanded.

He and Kari looked at each other, then back to the group."Because this has happened before," Kari answered finally.

The majority of the crowd at the festival had dissipated as soon as Piedmon had appeared.Taking advantage of the apparent lack of people, the six children and digimon sat at a nearby picnic table.TK and Kari sat on one side of the table as the others sat across from them.Once everyone was comfortable, they told their story.

"It happened about this same time two years ago," Kari began."A digimon named Demidevimon flew into my apartment through the window.He used to be an evil digimon that worked for Myotismon.At first, I thought he had amnesia, so I took care of him.It turned out he didn't and he was working with three other digimon we'd defeated:Numemon, Gazimon, and Metal Etemon.He took Tai's digivice and… attacked him."

She grew silent at the recollection.TK picked up the story for her.

"They were trying to digivolve one of them, but we somehow managed to defeat them without help from our digimon."He scratched Patamon's head, causing the chubby little creature coo appreciatively."Then, a few months later, Gazimon came back and tried the same thing, using Tai and Kari's cousin, Yami.We got together and defeated them again, but we never did find out what was resurrecting them in the first place."

"And now it's happening again," Ken finished.

TK and Kari nodded.

"Actually, this sounds different," Cody remarked."Last time, the evil digimon came to life and tried to digivolve.I remember Izzy telling me that Demidevimon was weak, and so are Numemon and Gazimon, so they could really benefit from digivolving.But this time, a powerful Mega digimon like Piedmon attacked.Not only that, he took the place of a real clown and then disappeared."

Kari nodded."That's true," she agreed."But what does it mean?"

"I bet this is what Azulongmon was telling us about!" Davis exclaimed."That other evil force out there must be doing this!"

"I don't know," Ken murmured unsurely."If whatever is doing this could do it all along, why would it rely on Arukenimon and Mummymon for help?I think this is someone else."

"Yeah, this is a lot worse than just having an enemy hiding out there somewhere," Yolei added."If whoever is doing this can turn people into digimon, then they could attack us without warning."

Suddenly, everyone realized the severity of what she'd said."So, that means they can get to us at any time…" TK breathed.

Kari stood up, suddenly, grasped by a sudden thought:"Tai!"

The others also got to their feet."And the rest of the older kids!" Yolei gasped."They don't have their digimon around to protect them!We've got to get to them first!"

"Worse," Cody said, drawing a glance from everyone, "first we have to find all of them."

Yamato "Matt" Ishida was sitting in a hard, uncomfortable plastic seat in a baseball stadium, watching his favorite team get its collective butt kicked.His fellow musicians had bailed on him, finding other things to do at the last minute, leaving him to go alone.If the ticket hadn't cost so much, he would have gotten up and gone home.Needless to say, he was not having a good time.

"Matt?" asked a familiar voice over his shoulder.

He turned his head and was surprised to see Sora standing there.

"Hey, Sora, what are you doing here?" the blonde boy asked.

"I won a radio contest that was offering a prize," she replied."Who would have guessed it would have been only one ticket to a baseball game?"

He laughed as she rolled her eyes and sat down in the vacant seat next to him."So, how'd you win?"

"The contest had a question about flower arrangement of all things," she answered."They figured no one would be able to figure it out, but my mother and I were listening to the radio in the shop when they asked it.Just luck, I guess."

"Don't sell yourself short," he told her."You're a smart person, Sora.I'm sure that had to count for something."

She grinned and then looked to the game, where the pitcher had just accidentally hit the batter.The crowd booed as the batter made his way to first base.

She turned to Matt amid the jeering crowd.

"I hate baseball," she chuckled, looking him straight in his blue eyes.

"Me too," he sighed, smiling."Let's get some hotdogs."

The airport terminal buzzed with life.Couples reunited and business partners shook hands.Amid it all, a pink-haired girl walked confidently ahead of her parents.She yawned, stretching her arms tiredly.

"Jet lag, sweetie?" he father asked.

"I get it every time," she giggled."But I'll be fine as soon as I get some tea and find my friends."

Mimi Tachikawa, former holder of the Crest of Sincerity made her way through the crowd, a smile on her face.She was excited about seeing her old friends and was glad to be doing it without having monsters trying to kill them at the same time.

Tai Kamiya was looking up and down the aisle of the library, trying to figure out if he was in the right section or, for that matter, if he was even looking for the right thing.He hated doing research and was especially annoyed that he had to get at least five sources."How do kids in advanced courses do this all the time?" he asked in exasperation.Then, looking further down the aisle, he saw a familiar face."Speak of the devil," he muttered.

Izzy grunted as he reached for a book perched high up at the top of a shelf. As he was stretching on his toes, trying to keep his balance, a hand swiftly grabbed it from his view.

"Hey!That's—" he stopped short, seeing his good friend holding the book with a smile on his face."Oh, hello, Tai," he greeted warmly."Do you need that book?"

"Nah, I just thought I'd help you get it," he laughed, and handed it to the shorter boy."Come here often?"

Izzy frowned."No, actually," he replied."I prefer to limit my research to Internet resources.Unfortunately, my science teacher insists that I find at least three sources that came out of books.When will people learn that the information one needs can always be found online if one only knows where to look?"

He gave a sigh of exhaustion and noticed the knowing grin on Tai's face.

"I'm sorry, is there something you want, Tai?" he asked.

"Well, you at least knew where to look for your stuff," he remarked."I can't find anything around here.Maybe you could help me find some stuff for my project."

"Uh-huh," Izzy said noncommittally."And what do I get for it?"

"I'll help you reach the books on the high shelves," Tai offered.

Izzy huffed disgustedly."While I appreciate the offer, it is definitely unnecessary," he retorted, going for a footstool and standing atop it."I can reach this book just…"

Tai laughed as Izzy reached and still found the book out of his grasp, even with the added height of the footstool.After a few frustrated grunts, the boy-genius conceded defeat and let Tai fetch the book, promising to help him locate some sources in return.

Joe Kido reclined on a bench near the beach, at ease after a long, long week of tests and studying and lectures.He was happy to finally be away from the pressures of studying and his parents breathing down his neck, making things worse.For now, he was happy to sit back and sip from an orange smoothie, enjoying the seasonably warm weather before the chillier wind returned.He saw some activity at the bridge near Tokyo Bay and pushed his glasses up on his nose to see better.

It looked like another group of idiots were going to bungee jump from the bridge.He watched with mild interest, knowing full well that the jumpers would be promptly arrested, like they always were.He sighed, deciding that he'd still rather watch this than dissect another pig fetus for class.

After all, this wouldn't make him throw up.

Davis led the others up the stairs to his apartment.Apparently, he had a plan for finding the elder Digidestined.

"Would you mind telling us what the plan is?" Yolei demanded.

"Did I forget to do that?" he puffed, hurrying up another flight.

"You just shouted, 'Hey, I've got a plan!' and ran off, you dope!" Cody yelled, trying to keep up."We had no choice except to follow you!"

"Oh," Davis said."Well, my plan is to ask my sister for help."

"Jun?" Ken asked."Why her?"

"She's got her learner's permit!"As they rounded the bend and walked to his front door, he flashed a grin to the group."She can drive us!"

"And what if we run into evil digimon?" TK asked, concerned.

"That's the beauty of my plan," he said slyly."If we do run into any giant monsters or something, we'll just feed them Jun and escape."

"That's mean!" Patamon squealed.

"Yeah, well you don't have to live with her," Veemon grumbled defensively."She's louder than Davis when she's on the phone!"

"Yeah, she's louder than—hey, Veemon!" he growled defensively, realizing what his partner had just said.

The others just rolled their eyes as Davis opened the door and the digimon went back to acting like toys.

"Jun!" Davis called."Jun, are you home?"

The girl stormed out of her room, wearing a pink shirt and long khakis."What _is _it?" she hissed."I was just about to sit down to read the review of the Teenage Wolves concert last Thursday and if they didn't give Matt's band a good review I am going to absolutely _kill _them!"

The group all looked at each other nervously.Davis finally spoke up to his sister, who was tapping her foot impatiently."Say, Jun, we were wondering if you would take us in the car to pick up some friends of ours."

"Hmm, let me think about it NO!" she shrieked, stomping back to her room."Take the bus!"

Looking at each other again, the Digidestined were at a loss for words.Until the proverbial light bulb lit up in TK's head.

"Well, that's too bad, guys," he said, raising his voice purposefully."I guess we'll have to find some other way to pick up **MATT.**"

At that last annunciated word, a pink-colored blur zipped past them, leaving them all standing in stunned silence.They looked out in the hallway and saw Jun at the end of it, once again tapping her foot, waving them over to her.

"Come on!Come on!That cutie isn't picking himself up!" she shouted emphatically.

The others shrugged and went over to her.She was about to descend the stairs when she saw the creatures in their arms."Uh, Davis, wasn't that stuffed animal smaller and cuter before?"

Veemon stifled an angry growl as Davis pushed Jun aside, going down the stairs."I dunno, maybe!" he replied."Come on, less yap, more Matt!"

"Oh, right!" she exclaimed, hurrying as well.

All these things he could sense.He heard their voices, saw their faces, smelled the air that they inhaled.But he could enjoy none of it.Tortured and desperately alone, he needed them to understand.He would send them a message, tell them of this power he'd discovered.Once he had their attention, once they knew what he was capable of, then he would show himself.Only then would they have to listen.Only then would they be able to understand.

This was the beginning of the end.This was how his pain would end.So much would have to be destroyed, but he could no longer stand his own miserable existence.If it required him to shed the blood of a dozen children, then so be it.

He opened his blood red eyes and spoke to the swirling darkness that surrounded him and pervaded every aspect of his being.He spoke only one word and it was all that was needed:"Go."

And with that, four dark shadowy forms flew out from around him and soared off to their targets.The four were gone now, but he was not alone.He would never alone.

"Go," he sighed ruefully."Perhaps their screams will be the last ones I have to hear."

# To be continued…

_(In the next chapter:the young Digidestined must rescue the old as everyone around them is in danger of becoming a potentially deadly foe as their unknown enemy takes steps that will have dire consequences…)_


	2. Burn Rubber

Resurrection 3, Part 2

** **

**"Burn Rubber"**

** **

Yolei Inoue had been frightened before.When she was first attacked by digimon in the Digiworld, she had been afraid.When she, Kari, and Ken had gotten lost in the forest and encountered the Dark Ocean, she had been afraid.When Dokugumon had emerged from that pit and attacked her and Hawkmon, she had been afraid.And yet, despite all those times when fear had gripped her so horribly, she couldn't imagine being more frightened than she was right now.

"Jun, slow down!" she cried."You're going to get us killed if you don't watch out!"

"The faster I drive, the sooner we get to Matt!" Jun yelled, gunning it.

"You know, maybe we should go this fast, since this might be an emergency," Davis whispered to his friends in the back of the van.

"We can't help if we get killed in a car crash!" Cody hissed.Then, turning to Jun, he shouted, "Jun!Do you realize you don't even know where we're going?"

Jun slammed on the brakes, bringing the car to a screeching halt and causing several cars behind her to swerve into adjacent lanes, their horns blaring as the drivers shook their fists at the spiky-haired fangirl.

"Oh, I forgot," she said, turning to her passengers, blushing slightly."TK, will you be a sweetie and tell me where your brother is?"

"Uh, sure," he agreed uneasily."He's at the baseball game downtown."

"Really?" Kari asked."I think I heard Tai saying that Sora's going there too.We can pick up both of—oof!" she grunted as the van leapt forward as Jun made her way to the stadium.

"Yeah! Go! Go! Go!" Matt shouted, along with Sora and thousands of other cheering fans.The game had turned around lately and the home team was now only one point down with bases loaded, two outs, bottom of the ninth.If they hit a homer, the game would be won.

"Wow, they're doing really well!" Sora exclaimed."This turned out not to be so bad after all!"

"Yeah, I've been having a great time here with you," he said.Then he realized what he said and felt his cheeks burning slightly.He turned and saw Sora grinning at him sheepishly as well.The two were silent in the roaring crowd for a moment.

Then, Sora broke the awkward silence, saying "Hey, the batter's ready!" a little more forcefully than she might have normally.

The batter was indeed ready.He stood poised, the bat raised as he watched the pitcher cautiously.The pitcher was motionless for a moment, thenwound up and pitched a fastball right into the catcher's mitt.

The batter stepped outside the box and took a few practice swings.The pitcher wound up and pitched a second time.The stadium thundered as the crack of the bat was heard, but they instantly died down, groaning when they saw that the ball had been fouled.

The ball soared up and came down, heading into the stands in right field.Matt saw that the ball was coming towards him and stood, ready to catch it.He could see it approaching fast and it was almost his when an elderly woman from behind him snatched it in midair, inches away from his outstretched hand.He turned and gawked at the woman in surprise.

"I got it!I got it!" she cheered jubilantly.Then, she noticed Matt sulking.

"Oh, did you want this ball, little boy?" the woman asked, adjusting her thick-lensed glasses on her nose.

Sora giggled.Matt frowned, but took a deep breath and muttered, "Yes, ma'am."

"Well, here you go honey," she said, giving him the ball and patting him on the head before sitting down.

"At least you got the ball," Sora whispered, still chuckling a little bit.

"The things I do for souvenirs," he grumbled.

The pitcher prepared to fire the last pitch as the crowd sat on the edge of their seats.The air was practically electrified with anticipation and the dull roar of the crowd became remarkably hushed as the pitcher readied himself to throw the ball that could very well decide the game.

As he brought his arm back, the pitcher suddenly seemed to change, to shift and change form.Even from their positions in the stands, Matt and Sora could see the dramatic metamorphosis of the player. The big screen at the top of the stadium displayed the morphing player for all to see.

When it was over, the tall, lanky pitcher was gone and in his place was a shiny chrome creature wearing shades.He looked directly at Matt and Sora in the stands.

"Metal Etemon," Matt whispered."It can't be…"

"Well, I always wanted to play before a crowd this big," the egomaniacal digimon laughed, "but this here is personal!Let's see you catch this:Banana slip!"

The deadly attack soared at the pair, but both leapt out of the way, tumbling into the aisle, causing the rest of the nearby crowd to scatter as well.The attack obliterated the area where they had been sitting only a moment earlier, and rubble rained down on them.

"Come on, we have to get out of here!" Matt yelled, taking Sora by the hand and leading her out of the stadium.

Metal Etemon watched them as they went, keeping his eyes on them even as the stadium erupted into chaos and the crowd began to evacuate.

"The little blues hound is trying to get away," he remarked."It's déjà vu all over again!"

"But you have to let me in, my boyfriend's in there!" Jun wailed."Well, he's not boyfriend _yet_, but we're supposed to pick him up and—"

"Miss, I don't care if he's your husband," the guard said.

"Oh, I wish!" she sighed hopefully as the six younger children and digimon rolled their eyes in unison.

"Look, it's this simple:no ticket, no entry," the guard told him."Now either show me a ticket or take your business elsewhere."

"What if it's an emergency?" Ken asked.

"Well, we could have someone find him for you or make an announcement, but what's the emergency?"

Just then, a horde of screaming ball fans rushed out of the stadium, nearly trampling them all in the process."Run for your lives!" one shouted."Monsters!" shouted another.

The guard sighed heavily."Monsters.Of course.Only in Tokyo.I shoulda stayed in Kyoto."With that, he ran inside, leaving the Digidestined to themselves.

"What do we do now?" Cody asked.Then, it seemed, his question was answered, as Matt and Sora burst through the doorway.

"Matt!" Jun cried jubilantly, halting the all-too-surprised boy by wrapping her arms around him."Thank goodness you're safe!"

"Jun… can't… breathe!" he croaked as she squeezed the air from him.

"Oh, sorry," she said, releasing him."Are you okay?"

"Fine," he gasped."Fortunately Sora and I got out in time."

"Yeah, I think we're safe now," Sora added.

Jun eyed the redhead suspiciously."Sora, eh?"She went over and bowed in greeting."Charmed," she said coldly.

"Uh… yeah," Sora replied, confused.

Just then, a huge, silvery mass crashed down on the pavement nearby, making a crater as it impacted.

"Well, there you are!" Metal Etemon laughed cruelly, reaching out and grabbing Matt with amazing speed, holding him by the throat."There's only room for one rock star around here, you little rat!"

"Matt!" TK cried in alarm.

"I've got it!" Patamondeclared determinedly."Patamon digivolve to… Angemon!"

The holy warrior raised his staff and brought it down on the metallic monkey's wrist, which didn't really hurt him, but was sufficient enough to cause him to drop Matt.The boy rolled out of harm's way as Metal Etemon turned angrily to face Angemon.

"What on earth…?" Jun cried in bewilderment.Then, feeling a tap at her leg, she looked down to see Gatomon poking her leg.She stared at the small feline in disbelief.

"It's probably better you didn't see this," Gatomon said calmly."Cat's eye hypnosis!"

Her eyes glowed pink and Jun suddenly went limp, collapsing into her little brother's nearby arms.

"How'd she get so heavy?" Davis grunted, setting her lightly down on the sidewalk.

Meanwhile, Angemon and the now digivolved Ankylomon were trying to stop their fully-evolved enemy.

"Hand of fate!" Angemon attacked.The beam of light merely splashed off of the resilient Mega, who tackled his larger, but weaker foe to the ground.

"Tail hammer!" Ankylomon bellowed, thrashing the ape with his mace-like weapon.

Metal Etemon rolled with the impact and was on his feet in no time."This ain't none of your business, you walking road block!" he yelled irritably."So make like the king of pop and BEAT IT!Metal punch!"

With so much power behind his metal fist, Metal Etemon easily sent Ankylomon sailing back, landing on Angemon, propelling them both across the street.

"Who is this guy?" Cody asked.

"This guy?He's toast," TK answered confidently."Ready, Cody?"

Cody nodded, holding up his digivice.Their two partners began to glow as their forms began to meld into one.

"Ankylomon!…"

"Angemon!…"

"…DNA digivolve to… Shakkoumon!" they declared in unison.

"What the…?" Metal Etemon stammered."Whoa, mama, what is that thing?Looks like a space ship!"

"I wouldn't talk if I were you," Shakkoumon admonished in his twin voice, a twinge of humor noticeable.

"Why you… banana slip!"

The attack hit the giant steel angel dead on, but his plating was more than strong enough to withstand the blast and had indeed withstood worse.He lunged forward and grabbed the rock star wannabe by the head with one claw-like hand."Show's over," he said calmly, and flipped the lighter digimon, slamming him into the concrete, which shattered from the force of the slam.

When the dust cleared, Metal Etemon was gone and in his place was the pitcher from the game, now unconscious.

"He turned back into a human," Ken noted, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as Shakkoumon de-digivolved to Upamon and Tokomon."Just like before.I wonder why that is…"

As they all mulled this over, Sora quickly noticed Jun stirring on the ground.

"You guys, Jun's coming to," she warned, causing all the digimon to go back to acting as harmless toys.

Jun got to her feet wearily."What happened?"

"Uh… earthquake," Davis replied quickly, drawing stares from a few of the others.

"An earthquake?Really?" Jun asked unsurely.

"Yeah, Matt got a cut from it," he said pointing to a small cut on his forehead that had gone unnoticed.

"Oh, are you all right?" she asked, rushing over and frantically inspecting Matt's forehead tenderly.

"He'd be a lot better if you'd get a first aid kit!" Davis said sternly.

"Oh, good idea!" she cried, snapping her fingers."I'll be right back!"That said, she ran off to look for one.

"What did you do that for?" Matt demanded."I'm not even hurt and when she gets back I'll have to put up with her playing nurse all day long!"

"No you won't," Davis said cheerily, "because, you won't be here."

Everyone looked at him confusedly.

"We've still got the van, and I remember TJ telling me once that you could hot wire cars!"

Matt glared at TK, who shrugged innocently."I haven't done that in a while, Davis," he said uncertainly.

"Aw, come on, it's just like stealing a bicycle:you never forget how!"

"Oh brother…" Yolei muttered.

"Look, before I go stealing your sister's van, I've got a couple of questions," Matt said, folding his arms.

"Like why an enemy we thought was dead came back to life… again!" Sora added.

TK stepped forward."The resurrections are happening again."

Matt and Sora went silent and nodded, comprehending.

"We'll explain more on the way," Kari told them as they went to the Motomiya's van."Right now, we've got to pick up Tai.He's at the library a few blocks from here…"

Tai grunted as he lugged the books up to the front desk.Izzy and he had found several useful books and were checking out nearly all of them.Izzy had taken the task of finding the books and determining if they were of any use to them, while Tai had taken the equally important task of getting them off the shelf and hauling them around the library.

He couldn't help but wonder why Izzy had chosen so many books, but he had a sneaking suspicion that he was checking out so many for the sake of making him carry them all as a means of getting back at him for making fun of his height.

"Here you… go!" he huffed, dumping them on the desk.

"Thank you, Tai," Izzy said graciously."I really appreciate your help in transporting these references."

"No… problem…" Tai puffed, winded.

"I'll take these," Izzy told the librarian, who scanned them and his library card before letting him have them.

"And these are mine," Tai added.The librarian took Tai's library card and scanned it, then frowned as she read the nearby computer monitor.

"Young man, are you aware that you have a library book overdue?" she asked in a stuffy, annoyed tone.

"Uh… are you sure?" he asked uncertainly.

"Oh, quite sure," the librarian said, clearly aggravated."It seems you have a copy _Green Eggs and Tofu _that's been in arrears for quite a while."

Tai gulped."How long?"

"Let's see…" the librarian muttered, taking out a calculator.Izzy looked at his friend with disbelief."Eight years, four months, and thirteen days," she answered finally.

Both of the boys' mouths dropped open."You've got a rather large price to pay, young man," the librarian told him menacingly.

"Couldn't I just buy you a new copy and call it even?" Tai asked weakly.

The librarian's face darkened and, at first, it looked as if she were about to speak, but then, something very peculiar happened.Her head grew enormous, her eyes became huge and yellow and her body became thin and spindle-like.The transformed librarian leapt onto the desk and glowered at the pair.

"Oh, I'm afraid, you have a greater price to pay, you arrogant whipper-snappers!" the creature snarled, drawing a red, gun-like weapon."I'm afraid the only course of action is capital punishment!"

"Vademon!" Izzy cried in disbelief.

"Correct, you over-inquisitive weakling!" the large-brained digimon laughed."It's payback time!"

"Okay, we're here," Matt said, pulling up to the curb and parking crookedly in front of the library.

"You haven't exactly mastered parking yet, have you?" Cody remarked as he hopped out the side door.

"Well, I haven't exactly got a license either, but who's counting?"

"Wow," said Davis, looking over the large building.

"What?" Yolei asked.

"So _this _is what the library looks like!" he chirped.

"What's a lie-berry?" Veemon asked as Yolei shook her head.

Just then, a group of people burst through the front doors, screaming about a monster as they ran for their lives.

"Noticing a trend?" TK asked to the group as a whole.

Then, they saw two familiar faces emerge from the library as well.

"Tai!" Kari cried.

"And Izzy!" Yolei added.

"Guys, get down!" Tai shouted, leaping forward as a beam of light shot forth, narrowly missing them and obliterating one of the windows of the Motomiya's van.

"Oh man, my mom and dad are going to kill me!" Davis moaned.

"Only if _he _doesn't kill us first!" Izzy exclaimed, pointing at their foe.

"Well, if it isn't the young Digidestined I was told about," Vademon chortled."I was hoping I'd get some target practice in today!"

"Who is that?!"This was from Yolei, who was more than a little shaken by the sight of the alien-like digimon.

"That's Vademon," Izzy explained."I encountered him once when he tricked me into giving up my Crest and my curiosity.I thought he'd been destroyed when Megakabuterimon thwarted his plans!"

"Yeah, well, he's about to get thwarted again!" Davis growled, removing his D3 and d-terminal."Veemon!Digi-armor energize!"

"Veemon armor digivolve to… Raidramon!"

The quadropedal digimon growled menacingly at his large brained adversary."You know, you're almost shaped like a lightning rod.Let's see if you act like one!Thunder blast!"

The electric attack missed as Vademon leapt out of the way with surprising agility."Too slow, you inferior excuse for a digimon," Vademon taunted."Abduction beam!"

The blast hit Raidramon dead on the side, causing him to roll.When he got up, he was wincing, obviously in pain.

"Gatomon, he needs help!" Kari cried, taking hold of her D3 as well."Dig armor energize!"

"Gatomon armor digivolve to… Nefertimon!"

The angel of light took to the air and flew high above Vademon, who trained his blaster on her, but was suddenly blinded by the bright sunlight as he looked directly overhead.Raidramon saw this and responded accordingly.

"Thunder blast!" he attacked, sending a bolt of electricity at the momentarily vulnerable Vademon.He convulsed a moment as electricity coursed through his body, then turned angrily to Raidramon, raising his blaster.

"You don't learn, do you?" he snarled.

"Rosetta stone!"The stone tablet was well aimed and caught Vademon by surprise, smashing him in the back of the head, causing him to collapse to the ground, where he morphed back into the irritable librarian, who was now out cold on the ground.

"What just happened, here?" Tai asked.

"It looks like the resurrections are happening again, Tai," Matt informed him."The others came in time to help me and Sora before Metal Etemon got to us."

Tai smiled."Thanks, guys," he told the younger kids.Then, he turned to Sora."I'm glad you're all right," he said with a warm smile.

Sora turned away curiously, with an almost guilty look."Yeah," she said simply.

"Listen, there's no time for small talk," Ken said, speaking up."We still have to find Joe."

"And Mimi!" Yolei exclaimed."I just remembered, she's supposed to be coming today!"

"That's right!" Sora exclaimed."If her plane was on time, she should have arrived already!"

Suddenly, a beeping was heard and the group looked down at their digivices.A small red dot was seen and it seemed to be approaching rapidly.They looked for the source and saw a taxi cab coming up the street.As it passed, the group saw an all-too-familiar blotch of pink through the window.

"Mimi," said the entire group of sixteen in unison.

"Everyone in the car!" Matt commanded, as they all piled in.

"Uh, who's driving?" Izzy inquired.

"Me," Matt replied, shortly, starting the car.

"Oh," Tai and Izzy said as one, and tightened their seatbelts.

"We haven't been back here in a while," Mimi remarked looking at the familiar sights out the window."Say, do you think we could get the driver to drop us off at the mall?"

"I don't know, let me ask him, sweetie," Mr. Tachikawa said, leaning forward to speak to the driver ahead of them.

The driver turned around and drew a scream from Mimi and Mrs. Tachikawa.His face was red and his hair was green and he grinned fiercely.

"Red Veggiemon!" Mimi gasped.

"I don't think we had the pleasure in Puppetmon's woods, but you're guilty by association," the plant-like digimon sneered.

Mimi was about to turn to her parents for help but in their place she found two white-sheeted creatures with sharp teeth staring at her maliciously.She realized that she was now sharing a cab with a couple of Myotismon's Bakemon flunkies.

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride, missy," Red Veggiemon cackled, "because when its over, we're stopping for lunch!"

Mimi's eyes went wide as she looked from one Bakemon to another, both of which were eyeing her hungrily.

"I get the drumstick!" one said.

Mimi shrieked at the top of her lungs.

"What is that, a siren?" Matt asked, hearing a peculiar high pitched screech.

"No, it's Mimi!" Yolei cried, pointing at the cab ahead of them."And she's in trouble!Speed up, Matt!"

As they got closer, they could see Mimi struggling with the two Bakemon in the backseat as the Red Veggiemon weaved his way in and out of traffic.

"What the… I don't believe it, those Digidestined brats are following us!" Red Veggiemon shouted furiously.Using one of his spiked appendages, he pressed down on the accelerator, speeding up and leaving the van behind.

"They're getting away!" Davis yelled.

"This stupid van can't follow them much longer," Matt grumbled, trying to keep up.

"I believe I can be of assistance," Hawkmon piped up."Yolei, if you please?"

Yolei complied and drew her D3 as Hawkmon flew out the broken window and perched on the hood of the car.

"Digi armor energize!" Yolei hollered.

There was a flash of light and in moments Shurimon stood steadily on the hood of the van.

"They won't escape," Shurimon assured them calmly."Double star!"

Flinging his bladed hands forward, they extended on his long, vine-like arms and embedded themselves on the trunk lid of the cab.Then, taking his feet and piercing them through the hood of the van (much to Davis's dismay), he made himself into a long, connecting bridge, preventing the cab from getting too far out of sight.Even so, they all knew it was only a temporary solution and they had to act quickly.

"My friends are coming to help!" Mimi declared proudly."You're finished, now!"

"Bakemon, get that tailgating punk off our cab, will ya?" Red Veggiemon growled, ignoring Mimi's confidence.

The two Bakemon punched a hole in the roof and floated above the cab.They then looked to Shurimon, whose legs extended to the van as his arms extended to the cab, leaving him defenselessly facing the road as it rushed beneath him.

"Do hurry, if you don't mind," Shurimon urged."Watching this pavement rush by is making me nauseous."

The Bakemon saw their opportunity."Dark claw!" they attacked in unison, punching a very distressed Shurimon in the back.If they kept that up, he wouldn't be able to hold on for long.

"I think we should help, Wormmon," Ken said, turning to his small, green partner.

"I can handle them," Wormmon obliged in his nervous, low voice."Wormmon digivolve to… Stingmon!"

The now enlarged Stingmon exploded from the roof of the van, sending scrap metal clanging loudly onto the pavement as several cars honked angrily as they tried to avoid the madness that was unfolding on the road before them.

Ken looked to Davis, whose face was buried in his hands, muttering something about how his parents would send him to Borneo for this.

"Uh… sorry about the van," Ken apologized meekly."I hope your parents are insured."

Meanwhile, Mimi was calling to the others from the cab."Don't hurt them, Stingmon!" she cried."They're really my parents!"

Stingmon nodded to Mimi, wondering how he was going to stop them without hurting them, when a dark claw attack smacked him across the face.

"Well, if you two want to play rough," Stingmon menaced.Using his superior speed and agility in the air, he extended both arms and flew at the two Bakemon, clotheslining them in mid-air.Then, taking advantage of the momentum, he rocketed forward and slammed the pair into the ground ahead of the cab.The two bounced from the ground and landed awkwardly in the backseat of the cab on either side of Mimi, where they reverted back to her parents.

"Wow… that was cool looking," Tai remarked.

"Uh-huh," Matt and Davis agreed.

"Cool or not, we've still got to stop that cab before someone gets hurt!" Cody shouted.

"I think I can do it!" Upamon offered helpfully."Upamon digivolve to… Armadillomon!"

The shelled digimon hoisted himself through the hole in the van's roof and walked out onto the hood sizing up the distancebetween himself and the cab.

"Okay, Shurimon," he called, "brace yourself, cause this is gonna be risky."

"What is?" Shurimon asked, his voice strained.

"This!Rolling stone!"Curling up into a ball, Armadillomon spun off the hood and along Shurimon's vines, rolling over to the cab before spiraling into the air and crashing through what was left of the roof, right onto a very surprised Red Veggiemon.

"Howdy!" Armadillomon greeted warmly from the floor."This is where you get off!"Red Veggiemon could only watch helplessly as Armadillomon turned and stomped on the brake.Without his seatbelt on, he rocketed through the windshield when the car came to a screeching halt, skidding to a rough halt several dozen yards ahead of them, where he finally returned to the form of a cabbie.

Matt managed to stop the van without colliding with the cab and the group got out.Davis and Ken went over to check on the cabbie.

"Sir, are you all right?" Ken asked the cabbie.

"Huh?What did you say?" the cabbie asked in English.

"How come you cabbies are always from foreign countries?" Davis asked, annoyed."Speak Japanese!"

Meanwhile, the rest of the Digidestined were checking on Mimi.

"So, people are turning into digimon we've defeated in the past?" Mimi clarified.

"Precisely," Izzy confirmed."And they seem fairly bitter about being defeated, too."

"Well, it's a good thing we're all safe now, since… wait a minute," Mimi said, noticing something."Where's Joe?"

Cody smacked his forehead in realization."I forgot!I asked him if he wanted to go to the festival in the park and he said he was going to the beach near Tokyo Bay instead!"

"Then that's where we should be!" Wormmon declared.

"Quickly, Wormmon!To the Digidestinedmobile!" Matt cried energetically.

Everyone looked at Matt oddly for a moment.

"Uh… well, what would you call it?!" he demanded sheepishly.

Joe watched as several police officers tried to stop the bungee jumpers on the bridge as he sat enjoying the cool breeze blowing over Tokyo Bay.He heard something on his portable radio about a high speed car chase involving a taxicab and a minivan on the highway that ran through town.

"Nutty people out there," Joe remarked shaking his head as he took a sip of his orange smoothie.Why couldn't people remain calm and collected, as he'd learned to do?

Just then, one of the jumpers leapt from the bridge and Joe watched as he plummeted towards the water.His bungee cord stretched as he reached the bottom of his fall, when suddenly something very bizarre happened:the jumper grew to an immense size, snapping the bungee cord like twine under his weight.He crashed under the water and emerged an enormous, red, serpentine creature with a metal horn on his head.

Joe would have recognized Mega Seadramon anywhere.He was getting the exact sensation of fear he'd had when he'd fist encountered one near the Tokyo Bay bridge during Myotismon's reign of terror.

And, acting on that sensation, calm and collected Joe Kido did the only natural thing:he screamed for his mother and ran away.

"How's everyone doing back there?" Matt called to his passengers.Sora, via Matt and Tai's chivalry, was seated in the front passenger seat.Meanwhile, the other nine Digidestined and six digimon were cramped in the back seat (not to mention Mimi's unconscious parents, who'd been unceremoniously dumped behind the back seat).There was only room for five, so Tai and TK obliged by sitting on the floor, while two others had to sit on a few laps.

"I'm too old to be sitting on someone's lap!" Cody protested indignantly from Yolei's lap.

"Hey, I'm five years older than you and you don't see me complaining," Izzy pointed out from Mimi's lap with a smug, self-satisfied grin.

Just then, as they came upon the beach near Tokyo Beach, a screech emitted from Mimi:"What is that thing?!" she cried, causing Izzy to grit his teeth and wince horribly as she shrieked in his ear.

"That's Mega Seadramon," TK spoke up."I remember when it attacked Joe and I when Myotismon had the whole city covered in fog.Joe saved me from him and Ikkakumon digivolved into Zudomon for the first time.This must be the same one!"

Matt pulled the car up to the curb.As they all departed, they heard an oddly familiar voice, screaming, "Help!I'm too young to be munchies for an undead sea monster!"

"Some things never change," Tai sighed as a very relieved Joe ran up to them.

"Guys!Thank goodness you're here!" Joe gasped."I was taking a break on the beach when this bungee jumper turned into Mega Seadramon and I dropped my orange smoothie and it shot a thunder javelin attack at me and I can't even figure out why it's here in the first place—"

"Joe, relax!" Sora shouted, taking hold of him."If you don't calm down, you'll give yourself a heart attack, right, Izzy?"

"What?" called Izzy, rubbing his ears.

"Thunder javelin!" a voice bellowed, and a bolt of lightning struck the ground amid the Digidestined, sending them sprawling as the charred and smoking remains of the sidewalk began to litter the area.

"That was close!" Kari gasped.

"What?" Izzy asked, cupping his hand to his ear.

Cody, meanwhile, looked to his partner."Think you've got another Digivolution in you, Armadillomon?" he asked, taking hold of his D3.

"Only one way to find out…Armadillomon armor digivolve to…Submarimon!"

As Cody boarded his aquatic digimon, he turned to the others."I'll try and fight him from below.Someone else get him if he surfaces!"

TK flashed a grin to Joe."Looks like I get to pay you back for your rescue, Joe," he chuckled.Tokomon took his cue and digivolved to Patamon, bracing himself as TK grabbed his D3.

"Patamon armor digivolve to… Pegasusmon!"

TK mounted the winged-horse digimon and took to the air.As he did, however, Kari saw a black form approaching fast from the horizon.It had an odd, vaguely humanoid shape about it, and Kari thought she had seen it from somewhere before.Gatomon had the same sensation as she caught sight of the figure as well.Only when it was upon them did they realize who it was.

"TK!" Kari called in warning."Watch out!"

TK turned his attention from water below to the new enemy and was helpless to do much more than gape with a look of shock as it unleashed its full fury.

"Darkness wave!"

Pegasusmon veered away just in time, but was propelled forward by the wave of black energy, barely keeping airborne as the attack nearly knocked him from the sky.

"Lady Devimon!" Kari shouted with grim recognition.

"Oh, so good of you to remember me, little one," Lady Devimon laughed coldly."I was hoping I'd get to send you to your grave remembering your destroyer and I'm glad to see I won't be disappointed!"

"Villains have a real knack for over-the-top speeches," Ken grumbled.

"You sure did when you were one," Yolei chuckled, elbowing his blushing friend.

"Who did what now?" Izzy inquired deafly.

As Joe led Izzy off to make sure he hadn't suffered any permanent hearing loss, the remaining Digidestined formulated a plan.

"Okay, Kari and Nefertimon will help TK and Pegasusmon deal with Lady Devimon," Yolei proposed.

"I'll help them, too," Ken offered.

"Great," Davis agreed."Yolei and I will help Cody take down Mega Seadramon."

In mere moments, Exveemon and Halsemon were in the air over the Bay, while Nefertimon and Stingmon aided Pegasusmon with the former Dark Master's henchwoman.

Cody and Submarimon dodged Mega Seadramon as best as they could as the stronger and larger digimon pursued them with astonishing speed.With another cry of "Thunder javelin!" and a second bolt of lightning grazing the side of the pair, Cody knew that they would have to rely on outwitting their foe, as out-musclinghim would be impossible.

"This water is filthy," Cody remarked disgustedly at the dark water he saw outside the cockpit."I can't see a thing!"

"It's okay, I have radar sensors," Submarimon assured him.

Cody suddenly got an idea."Does Mega Seadramon have them?"When his partner replied that he didn't, he directed him over to the pillar of the bridge over the bay.Mega Seadramon, who relied wholly on his keen sense of smell, could only follow them blindly.If the contamination in the Bay was less, he might have been able to follow and destroy them.As it was so polluted and he couldn't get a perfect fix on him, he followed fairly blindly until he crashed headfirst into the leg of the bridge.With his foe temporarily stopped, Sumbarimon took his cue as he came out from behind the leg of the bridge.

"Oxygen torpedo!" he attacked, striking the serpentine monster in the chin, forcing it to emerge from the water, roaring in rage.

Halsemon wasted no time."Eagle eye!" he hollered, sending two beams of energy straight into Mega Seadramon's eyes, temporarily blinding him.

As he huge creature thrashed in the water in rage, Exveemon made his move, aiming as best he could."V-laser!" he attacked, sending the yellow beam at Mega Seadramon.The beam hit him dead on and he collapsed violently backwards, crashing onto the beach, where he glowed momentarily, as if de-digivolving, and then returned to the form of the bungee jumper he had arisen from.

Joe went over to see if he was okay."Sir, are you all right?Do you need help?"

The bungee jumper raised his head and blinked at Joe before giving him a thumbs up."Whoa, man… what a rush!" he exclaimed, and then passed out.

The remaining digimon, meanwhile, dealt with Lady Devimon, a considerably more capable foe.

"Spiking strike!" Stingmon shouted, swooping down, his glowing blade poised.

Lady Devimon dodged the attack effortlessly, gracefully flying out of harm's way and then seizing the insect digimon by his foot.

"My, but they grow large bugs in this climate!" she laughed, flinging Stingmon to the ground.She then turned her attention to Kari and TK, who hovered nearby on Nefertimon and Pegasusmon, respectively.

"As I said, I owe you, little girl; and the boy in the goofy hat will go with you," she snarled cruelly.

"Not if we have anything to say about— wait, what's wrong with my hat?" TK asked, suddenly insulted.

"Save it, we've got a battle to fight!" admonished Pegasusmon.

"I couldn't agree more," Nefertimon called."Shall we?"

The two flew directly at Lady Devimon, who waited patiently as they got closer and closer.When they were close enough, she would unleash her Darkness Wave attack on them, finishing the pair off for good.

However, just as she was about to attack, they made a maneuver she hadn't expected.They crossed paths in mid-air, creating some kind of long, shining rope between the two of them."Golden noose!" they cried, ensnaring her in the noose and holding her tight where she hovered.

"Stingmon!" Ken yelled from the ground."They've got her bound!Now's your chance!"

Stingmon looked up and saw their nemesis momentarily incapacitated and soared into the air, making his attack count:"Spiking strike!"

The attack hit dead on and Lady Devimon screamed in defeat before she returned to her human form, which was so petite that it slipped through the Golden Noose and hurtled towards the ground.

Matt, standing the closest, ran to catch the falling human and dove as the helpless person landed safely in his arms.He sighed, relieved… until he saw who it was.

"Matt?Is that you?" Jun murmured as she opened her eyes wearily."What happened?"

Matt blanched as he tried to think of an explanation."Uh, car-jackers stole your van and all of us went off to get it back for you.They banged it up, but it still runs."

Jun smiled as she looked up into her savior's eyes."Oh, Matt.You're my hero!" she bubbled, and leaned up to kiss him on the cheek… before unceremoniously passing out in his arms as he sighed in relief, causing the others to burst out laughing until tears ran from their eyes.

Because of their harrowing experience and all the trouble of running across town, they decided it might be best if they met to discuss the situation the following day.Once it was agreed, sleeping arrangements were made.Since the elder Digidestined were obviously being targeted, it made sense to have them stay with the younger ones.Kari and Tai let Izzy, Mimi, Davis, and Ken spend the night at their apartment, while TK took his brother, Joe, Sora, Yolei, and Cody.With a good balance among them, they slept rather soundly.

The next morning, Matt was up early to make breakfast.He had planned on saving his mother the trouble and he was just getting the ingredients for scrambled eggs ready when the phone rang.He picked it up to silence the ring and whispered a quiet "Hello?" into the receiver.

"Matt, is that you?" Tai's voice asked.

"Yeah, Tai, what is it?Why are you calling so early?" he whispered.

"Izzy's come up with a theory about these new resurrections and he wants us to hear it," Tai explained.

"Great, I'll wake everyone up," Matt said.

"No!" Tai protested suddenly."This has to do with us older kids.Just get Sora and Joe up.Let the other guys sleep in.They had a rough time yesterday."

Matt was puzzled.Why wouldn't they include everyone?Why only the older ones?  
"Don't worry, Matt," Tai assured him."Everything's going to be fine.Izzy's got this figured out.Trust me."

Matt finally agreed to meet Tai and gathered Joe and Sora, slipping quietly out the front door.

At Tai and Kari's apartment, Tai was attempting to make pancakes for his rather large group of houseguests and not doing a very good job of it.He had just peeled a burnt pancake off the griddle when the phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered.

"Tai?" Matt's voice came."Hey, are you the only one awake?"

"Yeah, it's still kind of early," Tai explained in a hushed voice.

"Well, listen, Sora and I think we've figured out something about these resurrections.We saw something at the ballpark yesterday."

"Oh, really?" Tai asked, feeling annoyed for some reason."Well, what is it?"

"I can't explain it right now, Tai," Matt informed him."Get Izzy and Mimi up and meet Joe, Sora, and I and we can talk about it."

"Why only the older kids?" Tai asked.

"I _said _I can't explain right now, just meet us!" Matt growled venomously.Then, he softly added, "Sora really thinks that this can only be handled by us, especially with you."

Tai puffed up slightly at that."Okay," he consented."Where should we meet?"

Kari woke up that morning amid all her friends and groaned as she stretched, popping her back.Davis's snoring had kept the majority of them up until they had gotten together as a group and put a clothespin on his nose.Upon further investigation, she found three of their number were missing.Tai, Izzy, and Mimi were absent.

This didn't at first alarm her until she went to the rest of the apartment and found no one there. He parents had gone shopping and her brother and their two friends had left without leaving a note.She decided to wake up the others, panicking slightly at their disappearance.

"That's weird," Ken remarked when he saw the situation for himself."Why would they leave without telling us?They're unprotected without us."

"Maybe they left to get away from your snoring," Veemon joked, elbowing Davis in the leg.

"Very funny, Veemon," Davis laughed sarcastically."Now let's find the others!"

Then, suddenly, there was a knock on the door.Kari went and answered it uneasily.She was surprised when she saw who it was.

"TK!" she exclaimed.

"Yolei and Cody are here, too," TK said."We came as soon as you called us."

Ken looked at them, baffled."But, nobody called you," he told them uncertainly.

The other three looked every bit as confused."Yeah you did," Yolei disagreed."I was there when TK took the call.Kari said that the older Digidestined had let us sleep in and come over here to start working on a plan.We all had breakfast and came over as soon as we could."

Davis was starting to get frustrated."Look, TF, I don't know who called you, but it wasn't Kari," he growled."The older kids aren't here, either!"

Everyone was beginning to worry now.Cody spoke up and verbalized the unspoken fear between them, his voice shaking with uncertainty:"Someone's toying with us."

Then, both Ken and Kari seemed to freeze, momentarily shivering as their eyes grew wide in sudden fear.Even the others felt it.It was like a slight, but sudden chill that blew through the room.It was as if the air crackled with electricity, or as if some person had entered the room without their knowing, but still triggered that strange "sixth sense" that alerted them of the stranger's presence.

As they became more aware of the feeling, the new presence made itself known.From the kitchen, a kind of black cloud began to form, rising from seemingly nowhere.It swirled and billowed ominously, but then began to condense and take a more recognizable form.In mere moments, the blackness had formed into a tangible being that stood there among them.

The being was tall, near to seven feet in height, in fact.He had a very humanoid appearance, with a long, gaunt face and legs and arms that seemed appropriate for his body frame.He was lean, but muscular, and wore a black, tight coat and pants that accentuated his muscular form.He wore leather gloves on his hands and heavy boots on his feet.His eyes were hidden behind red goggles and his whole frame was draped with heavy-looking iron chains.His thin, dark hair was slicked back over his head and his skin was a sickly, pale white.He looked confident and sinister, but he also had an air of benign calm as he smiled at the Digidestined with bluish lips and yellowed teeth.

"Hello, children," he greeted them with an harsh, yet flowing voice."I am sincerely happy to meet you.Sit, if you will, for we have much to talk about and so little time for it."

To be continued… 

** **

(In the next episode, the Digidestined have a conference with the enemy.Then, some old friends stop by to say hello as others may have to say goodbye…)


	3. 

Resurrection 3, Part 3

Resurrection 3, Part 3

** **

**Lie in Our Graves**

** **

The six children and digimon stared at the intruder.He was an imposing sight, with his obvious strength and his foreboding appearance.His appearance was that of a creature of darkness, of a sinister being with only cruel intentions.His black, uniform-like apparel, the chains that hung about his arms, the red tinted goggles, the pale skin, and the manner in which he had come to them were all signs of his animosity.It was not like a benign creature to appear from a cloud of darkness, after all.

Yet, in the midst of all that dark, twisted malignancy, there was one feature about him that confused every one of them:his smile.

His smile was warm and congenial and didn't give the slightest hint of evil.It was not the smile that so many of their enemies had flashed.He wasn't smiling as if he was about to strike and was thrilled with the idea of mayhem.He wasn't smiling with contempt or pity.There was no indication that he was going to attack.Violence, anger, hatred, and all the things that a foe was suppose to have in his grin were totally absent.In truth, his smile was that of an old friend who'd come to visit.As hard as it was for them all to believe, the intruder's only recognizable mood was that of happiness.

"Hello, children," he greeted them in a harsh, yet flowing voice."I am sincerely happy to meet you.Sit, if you will, for we have much to talk about and so little time for it."

Davis was the first to speak:"All right, who are you?!" he demanded.

The humanoid's grin only widened."Oh, Davis," he laughed good-naturedly, "you're so brash sometimes.There's no need to get excited."

"Well, it's not every day that some big, sinister-looking guy teleports into our friend's apartment," Yolei remarked sarcastically, "so you'll have to excuse us if we get a little _loud!"_

The heated emphasis she put on that last word only strengthened the resolve of the others and they stepped forward.The dark man only chuckled softly and raised a hand.

"I suppose it is rude of me not to introduce myself," he remarked in that icy voice."I am Lazarusmon."

"You're a digimon?" Cody asked, puzzled."But you look like a human."

"Arukenimon and Mummymon can too," Ken reminded him."This might be a disguise."

Lazarusmon laughed again with childlike amusement."No, no, this is the real me," he assured them."This is merely the appearance I took after my last… evolution."

Those last words were quieter and he looked away momentarily, as if the thought pained him.He let it pass and went back to smiling.Kari stepped ahead of the group, Gatomon putting herself between her and Lazarusmon protectively.

"What do you want?" Kari asked.

"To talk," he replied, and approached them.

They all jumped back instinctively, expecting him to attack or seize one of them or do any number of things other than what he did.He walked past them and took a seat on the couch in the living room.He reclined and let out a small sigh of relaxation as he stretched himself out.

"Oh!" he exclaimed, looking at Kari concernedly."Where are my manners?Do you want me to take off my boots while I'm indoors?"

Kari looked at him curiously, then, after a few moments of contemplation, said, "No, that's okay.Make yourself at home."

"Thank you," he said, bowing politely.

"Would you like some tea?" she offered.

He beamed warmly and nodded.

The rest of the Digidestined sat back and watched as she prepared it, utterly astonished at the strangeness of the scene.When he had his tea, they all sat or stood nearby him.Not next to him, but across from him, still untrusting.

"What do you know about the resurrections?" Cody asked, finally cutting to the chase.

"You're so direct, Cody," he remarked."That's what I like about you.You don't fool around with nonsense formalities."

"You didn't answer my question," Cody told him, not phased by the praise given him.

Lazarusmon nodded."Very well," he consented."I know everything about them.I'm responsible for them."

"You?" Kari demanded."You sent those digimon we'd already defeated after us a year and a half ago?When Tai got hurt and my cousin Kami was duped into being used?"

Lazarusmon looked down and nodded silently.

"Then you're our enemy!" TK growled, standing up accusingly."My brother risked his life to stop them both times.All of us did!And now you're making it happen again!"

Lazarusmon looked up at him, meeting his eyes behind the goggles."Yes," he admitted."I am your enemy.I did try to kill you."

Ken narrowed his eyes."Why?Are you working with Arukenimon?"

He shook his head."I doubt she even knows I exist.Indeed, very few among the living do know of me."

"Then why?" Davis demanded, fed up with this dark, grinning digimon that looked like a man and who ducked every question they had for him."Why would you want to hurt anyone?"

"I don't want to hurt anyone," he protested defensively.

"Then _why?"_ he exclaimed.

"Because it's the only way I can free myself, that's why!" he snarled, standing up to his full height, his already cold voice turning unabashedly cruel."You have no idea what things are like for me, you impudent, wretched little child, so don't you _dare_ judge me."

Davis took a step back, but then braced himself up and stepped forward again."You tried to hurt my friends," he told him, "so I'll ask all I want.Do you want to sit around drinking tea all day or are you going to start talking?"

Lazarusmon seemed genuinely surprised by Davis's confidence and softened."I suppose you're right," he granted."Well, then, I suppose I should tell you my story."

"Years ago," he began, "before the first Digidestined came to the Digiworld, I was a normal digimon.I lived in the time in which things were beginning to go wrong.Evil digimon ruled and the weak were susceptible.There were only those who joined the forces of darkness and those who lived in fear of them.Etemon, Myotismon, Devimon… these are enemies you and I know all too well.The balance had been lost in the Digiworld and I was powerless to do anything about it.I sought power and the only power that anyone seemed to possess was that of the powers of darkness.You remember the feeling, don't you, Ken?"

Ken looked away, embarrassed.

"I searched for power that I could use across the planet.It was my only concern, getting the power to crush my enemies.Then I heard of a place far out in the ocean.A place where darkness was abundant as a massive, swirling pit.You have all been there.You get the same feeling from it as you do from me.You know it as the Dark Whirlpool.

"The place was a downward spiral into the very heart of darkness, and I knew that if I could get at that power, I would become an unstoppable force.I traveled out to it and was sucked in.I plunged down to the bottom of that pit and into the place where the powers of darkness are at their most concentrated."

"How did you survive?" Ken asked, awed."I remember some Mekanorimon I sent when I… I was…"

Lazarusmon nodded."I know.And the truth is, I didn't survive.Not in the sense that you may be thinking of.I was alive, but not alive somehow.My form was utterly changed.I had power, but my appearance was that of some horrid, cursed creature.These chains," he remarked, rattling the ones draped about his arm, "are a reminder of my state as a prisoner."

"But, you can travel anywhere you want," Yolei said."I mean, you can travel between here and the Digiworld easily."

"That is one of my abilities," he acknowledged, "but I have no real freedom.When I returned from the Dark Whirlpool, I was shunned by my fellow digimon.They could sense the darkness about me just as you can.I didn't need air or food or anything else.I had become immortal and could live as long as I wanted to, but I gave up all the things that make something alive.They could see it in my eyes."

With that, he removed his goggles.The children all backed away, flinching at the sight of them.They were red and burnt like embers.The red irises looked to be floating in black holes that consumed all light and traveled back into absolute nothingness.It was like looking at the eyes of death itself.

"And that is not the worst part," he continued, putting his goggles back on to comfort the children."The worst part is what it did to my mind.It was in that time I discovered what the Dark Whirlpool is.I alone know it's secret."

"What is it?" Wormmon asked cautiously.

"You know what happens to a digimon when it is deleted?" Lazarusmon asked.

"It's reborn," TK answered.

"In Primary Village," Ken added.

"That's partially correct," Lazarusmon told them."When a good digimon is deleted, they are reborn, in time, in Primary Village.But what of an evil one?Do you expect the likes of Piedmon to be allowed to be born and to return to wreak havoc on the digital world?"

The Digidestined looked to each other unsurely.

"When they are deleted, only the core of their being, their… soul, if you will, goes to primary village, and they become a whole new digimon.But all the data that made up their bodies, their memories, and all that made them evil is taken and collected in a single place, like digital garbage that accumulates over the centuries.Imagine it:all the evil digimon that ever existed are, more or less, buried in a single spot.That spot is the Dark Whirlpool."

"So, is it like…uh… Hades?" Cody ventured.

Lazarusmon chuckled slightly at the young boy's evasion of swearing."No," he answered."It is as if the digimon shed their personalities and their bodies like you would shed their clothes, and they go and put on new ones.The old data remains.That is why Ken was able to find Devimon and take his arms to add to Kimeramon, since the old data that was Devimon was collected in the pool."

"What does that have to do with you?" Kari asked.

Lazarusmon frowned bitterly."I can hear them."

Ken looked at him, oddly."What do you mean?"

"No matter where I go, I can hear them," he went on."All those voices, laughing, calling, screaming, shouting, crying and even whispering at the same time.Their memories are mine and I can hear every thought they ever had.My very presence animates their dead data.It's like reading a book; the thoughts and actions are there, but without a reader, they remain silent.Now that I'm there, it's as if they're alive, and not a second goes by without them all in my head."

"You poor thing," Kari remarked.

Lazarusmon sighed."Don't sympathize yet, child.I still haven't told you why I resurrect them."

"That's a good question," Yolei encouraged."Why would you bring evil digimon back to life?"

"I can sense the powers of darkness throughout the Digital World," he told them."I realized that if the balance of the powers of light and darkness were ever offset enough, the creatures in the Whirlpool would escape and haunt the world as free spirits.If they escaped, I would be free.When the Dark Masters took over the Digiworld, I knew that the balance would be upset when both Earth and my world were overtaken.However, with the old Digidestined's victory over them and Apocalymon, it became apparent that it was not to be.However, not long after that, I began to sense a new tide of evil.I knew it would come in three years and now it has come."

"You mean you knew this was going to happen?" TK demanded, angered."You knew about Ken and Arukenimon—"

"I just knew _something _was coming, I didn't know who or what," he interjected."And I knew that the only thing that would be there to stop it would be the Digidestined.I had no idea that there would be new Digidestined to deal with this new onslaught, however, so I only sought to destroy the original eight.

"I learned how to control and harness the powers of darkness and one day I experimented with forcing their data out of the Whirlpool, but it did no good if there was no life energy to give them," Lazarusmon explained."I used excess dark energy to transform their data into physical bodies, but to give them life, I needed to give them life energy.And the only life energy I had was my own.As a consequence, I could only resurrect a few at a time or else the process would kill me."

"So that's why you only used weaker digimon," Cody nodded, comprehending."Demidevimon, Numemon, Gazimon… they would have taken up less energy than a huge, powerful digimon."

"Precisely," Lazarusmon confirmed."And when both of my earlier attempts failed, I took my time to learn a new method of resurrection."

"So that's why you're using people this time," Yolei said.

"By using the dark energy I have at my command, I can use the bodies and life energy of a human to form the new digimon, which is why the human is so tired afterwards," he elaborated, sounding rather pleased with himself."As a result, I can resurrect almost anything.The only drawback is that it is temporary.It takes concentration on my part to keep them in that form.I just started yesterday as a means of practicing.And of getting your attention."

"What for?" Davis asked.

"I think it only fair to warn you of what you're up against," he replied, hesitantly."Frankly, I don't think you have a chance, but I would hate to be unjust to such worthy adversaries if I'm going to kill you."

"Why would you want to?!" Cody exploded, incensed."What would be the point?!"

"If the forces of darkness are to triumph, you must be out of the way," Lazarusmon stated straightforwardly."Once both worlds are taken over, the spirits that plague me will be freed."

"You're willing to sell out both worlds to save your own skin?!" Davis exclaimed, joining Cody in his anger.

Lazarusmon looked at Davis as if thinking of something."You don't understand what it's like," he told him, finishing his tea."If you did, perhaps you wouldn't be so condemnatory."

He stood up and stepped toward Davis, causing the others to rush to his side, but Davis put up a hand."Hold on," he said."What do you mean?That you can let me hear their voices, too?"

Lazarusmon nodded."Just for a second.It will only be temporary.Unless you're afraid…"

Davis took up the challenge and pushed the others away.Veemon protested, but Davis's mind was made up."Nothing could be that bad," he asserted."Now, let's see what you're so bent out of shape about."

Lazarusmon nodded and removed his gloves from his icy, white fingers.He touched them to Davis's temples and appeared to meditate momentarily.Davis flinched a bit at the freezing cold touch of his hands, but stood his ground as the others watched uncertainly.The tall digimon looked down and asked, "Are you ready?"

Davis nodded.A crackle of black electricity surged from Lazarusmon's head, down his arm in a spiral and finally connected at the base of Davis's skull.

Instantly, Davis's whole body went tense, his arms extending outward and stiffening as his eyes popped wide, as if in horror.He went completely pale and his jaw dropped in a silent scream.

What Davis saw was the stuff of a million nightmares.The sound of innumerable voices all speaking perfectly clearly at the same time, so as to sound like a conversation and the roar of the crowd at the same time shook him as if it was all in his ear at that moment.He saw such violent, horrendous images and had such evil, twisted thoughts that it was as if his whole being was drowned, saturated, and then combined with them into a monstrosity unlike anything he had ever imagined before.It was torture beyond the limits of the physical body and, no matter how tough he thought he was or could be, for that one second he felt as lost, lonely, and overwhelmed as a single raindrop that had fallen into the ocean.

Lazarusmon released his grip and Davis fell backwards, catatonic, into a ready Ken and Veemon's arms.

"What did you do to him?!" Veemon demanded hotly."If you hurt him, I'll—"

"He'll be fine," Lazarusmon assured him."When he comes to, he'll be as good as new.However, he ought to have a better understanding about what my existence is like every moment of every day."

Davis started to stir and was breathing hard in a cold sweat.The others helped him to his feet.He seemed fine, although a little shaky and looked at everyone as if he barely recognized them.

"Davis, are you okay?" Kari asked with concern.

He looked at her and blinked for a moment before saying, "I'm fine, but I bet a date would make me feel a lot—"

"He's fine," she diagnosed, a small grin on her face.

"Well, Davis, now that we have an understanding," Lazarusmon continued."I think it's time we get this over with.Believe me, one way or another, this will be over.It will either be all of you or myself, but we can no longer all coexist."

"Hey, one question," Ken cut in."Why did you use other people to create digimon, but not us?"

"Your digivices protect you from my powers," Lazarusmon answered."However, your little gadgets would be quite useless if you were left unprotected, without your digimon.Which reminds me…"

Kari's eyes opened wide."The older kids!You took them!"

"Well, not yet, I haven't," Lazarusmon laughed cruelly."But if you want to keep it that way, I suggest you get to your old meeting place, where I led them."He then altered his voice and when he spoke next, he sounded astonishingly like Tai."Okay, Matt, meet me in the park in twenty minutes."

The Digidestined turned their backs on their foe, who watched them as they made a mad dash for the park.He sighed and he shook his head once they had gone."Poor things," he muttered, teleporting away."They really aren't prepared for what they'll have to face."

The six children ran as fast as they could, knowing full well how much danger their friends were in.As they got closer to the park, they became aware of the sound of screaming as they got nearer to the park.Once it was in sight, they saw scores of frightened park-goers fleeing for their lives.A man actually ran into TK, knocking him over.

"Run for your lives, kids!" the man said as he continued running."There's monsters in the park!Again!"

Kari sped ahead of the group, a look of fierce determination on her face."Come on, we have to save them!" she cried desperately.As they came to the park's entrance, a new creature appeared before them.

"Well, look who decided to show up for the nature hike!" said the creature, blocking their way.The monster was an immense tree with long, branch-like arms and a sneering wooden face.

"What is that?" Yolei cried.

"I have no idea," TK replied.

"I'm an old friend of your brother's, kid.The name's Cherrymon," he introduced, "and I made your brother an offer he couldn't refuse."

"You were the one that convinced him to fight Tai back in Puppetmon's forest!"

"A lot of thanks it got me," he chuckled bitterly."But Lazarusmon will bring me back for good as long as I keep you from getting through.He made me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"What are we doing standing here?" Davis demanded.

"And why does he sound like he has tissue paper in his cheeks?" Yolei asked.

"Enough questions!" Cody interjected."Do it, you guys!"

"Armadillomon armor digivolve to… Digmon!"

"Hawkmon armor digivolve to… Halsemon!"

"Veemon armor digivolve to… Flamedramon!"

"Patamon armor digivolve to… Pegasusmon!"

"Gatomon armor digivolve to… Nefertimon!"

"Wormmon digivolve to… Stingmon!"

Digmon rushed forward, drills spinning, expecting this to be an easy task, but was backhanded by a huge wooden fist, sending him into a tree which splintered under his weight as he de-digivolved.

"Nefertimon, we've got to hold him!" Pegasusmon called to his counterpart.

"I agree!"

"Golden noose!" they attacked in unison, binding the plant digimon's arms.

"Stingmon!Do it just like before!"

Stingmon complied and unsheathed the stinger on his arm."Spiking strike!"

Cherrymon only laughed as the insect flew at him."Cherry bombs!" he attacked as they got close enough.The several dozen bombs launched from the foliage on his head, pummeling not only Stingmon, but the nearby Pegasusmon and Nefertimon as well.The collapsed to the ground, at their rookie stages once again.

"Why are we losing so badly?" Davis wondered aloud.

"He's at a higher level," Ken called in answer."We need to take him as seriously as we took Mega Seadramon and Lady Devimon yesterday!"

"Not a problem," Flamedramon chuckled haughtily."Fire rocket!"

Cherrymon may have been strong, but he was still made of wood, and wood is highly flammable.He burst into flames as the attack hit him.He frantically tried to slap it out with his hands and might have succeeded were it not for Halsemon providing assistance.

"Tempest wing!" he attacked, sending a column of wind onto the tree, fanning the fire, which spread to his entire body.He howled in defeat and anger as he reverted back to the form of a man, who stood there, wild-eyed and still smoking for a moment, before he fell over, unconscious.

Flamedramon and Halsemon returned to Veemon and Hawkmon respectively and went over to the man.

"He should be fine," Hawkmon said."He doesn't appear to be burnt."

"Then let's save Tai and the others!" Davis urged, getting ready to dash off again.

"A little late for that, aren't you?" laughed a voice from above.They all looked skywards and saw a sextet of Bakemon floating away overhead.Restrained and struggling were the six eldest Digidestined.

"Kari!" Tai shouted, seeing his sister and the others below."We were tricked!"

"Put us down!" shrieked Mimi to the Bakemon as she struggled.

"Shut up and enjoy the view," her Bakemon snarled as the others started calling for help.

"Veemon, let's knock those clowns out of the sky!" Davis called to his partner.

"Veemon digivolve to… to…"

Everyone looked at Veemon expectantly.He shrugged."I just can't do it."

"I doubt any of us could, now," Hawkmon remarked."None of us have had breakfast yet and we can't muster the strength."

"Don't worry, you guys," Matt called to them as they ascended higher and higher, almost out of earshot."We believe in you!Come after us when you can fight again!"

Izzy struggled with his Bakemon and freed one arm.Before he could be fully restrained, he pulled his laptop from its carrying case and hurled it to the young Digidestined below."Yolei, catch!" he called."You might need it!"

Yolei lunged forward and caught the laptop, much to Izzy's relief and watcheddesperately as he and the rest of the older kids flew out of sight.

"I suppose it's true what they say," chuckled a cold, familiar voice, drawing the gazes of the twelve of them."Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day."

Lazarusmon stood on the branch of a tree, looking down upon his young foes and grinning good-humoredly.

"Do you think this is a joke?!" Davis demanded fiercely."You think this is funny?!"

"I think that it's almost over, and that's cause enough for me to celebrate," he replied calmly."I don't imagine you want to battle it out in the city and expose more citizens to needless harm, so I've taken this fight someplace more private."

"Where?" Cody asked.

"To the place where it all began.You may not all know it so well, but I'm sure TK recalls it vividly," he chortled.He threw a small cloth bag tied with a string that jingled as it hit the ground."This ought to be enough to get you there," he added, and disappeared in a cloud of black.

TK went and picked up the bag, holding it contemplatively.

"Where it all began?" Yolei wondered aloud."What is he talking about TK?"

TK looked to her."Summer camp," he replied simply.

"Then what's in the bag?" Ken asked.

"Bus tokens."

The mood on the bus could best be described as somber.None of them seemed to feel like talking and even the bus driver noticed how quiet the children were.He'd asked them, "Are you kids okay?You look a little down." They politely told him that they were all right, which was not really the truth.They felt like they had let their mentors down somehow, as if they had failed in their duties as Digidestined and, for that matter, as friends.

What was truly remarkable was that the quietest one among them was Davis.Every so often, one of them would make an offhand comment, either about what they were getting into or an observation of something they saw out the window.The only who had said nothing was Davis.He was tucked into a ball and sat in his seat silently, Veemon next to him.His partner tried to get him to speak, usually with another horrid knock-knock joke, but to no avail.Finally, Ken picked up the slack and tried to engage him in some conversation.

"Are you nervous, Davis?" Ken asked.

Davis shook his head.

"Do feel okay?"

Davis nodded curtly.

"Would you mind saying something and stop creeping us out?"

Davis nodded again with a frown.

Ken sighed."You know, Davis, I'm not much of a conversationalist," he confessed, "so when I'm quiet, it's not that noticeable.When _you're _quiet, it means something's wrong.You always told me not to keep too much inside and to not try to handle things on my own.Why don't you take your own advice and tell me what's wrong?"

The goggle-wearing boy sighed and looked to his friend."If you've gotta know," he relented, "I'm still a little messed up after that thing with Lazarusmon."

"You mean when he put those voices in your head?" Ken asked."They're not still in there, are they?"

"No," Davis answered."But I… it's like… it sort of like…" he struggled, trying to say what he felt."It's like I can't hear like I did then, but I can still remember what it felt like.I know how Lazarusmon feels and I'm not sure if I want to fight him."

"After what he did with the older kids?" Veemon interjected."Come on, you're not giving up, are you, buddy?"

"No, but… I still feel like Lazarusmon and I have something in common," he said quietly."I feel kinda bad about what happened to him and, if we weren't fighting him, I'd try to help him."

"Sort of like you did for me?" Ken asked with a smile.

Davis perked up a little bit."Yeah," he replied."A little bit."

"Here's your stop, kids!" the bus driver called."Although I don't know why you'd want to stop by this camp.It's abandoned this time of year."

"We're having a party with… some old friends," TK told him decisively.With that, the six children, and their "stuffed animals" got off the bus and walked onto the campgrounds, mentally readying themselves for what lie ahead.

TK looked over the campgrounds with an air of nostalgia.He had been so young at the time and at first he wondered if he'd remember the place after four years of time, but now that he was there, it all appeared just as he remembered it.The familiar sights of the cabins and the tall pine trees and the nearby pond where he had gone canoeing with Matt.And the workshop where he'd almost cut off Joe's fingers.And the soccer field where he'd first seen Tai and Sora play some soccer.And… and…

He sighed thinking about those good old days, in part remembering the simplicity of being that young, and also because he was brought back to the present, where those old friends were now in danger.He sighed and looked around, wondering where they were.

"Well, TP, any idea where Lazarusmon might be keeping them?" Davis asked, sounding a little more normal.

TK looked around and thought of where Lazarusmon would stage a battle.He considered the options for a moment before saying, "There's a big clearing a little bit into the woods.That must be the place."

"Hold on," Yolei interrupted."I'm checking Izzy's analyzer to look up Lazarusmon.It says here that he's an Ultimate digimon."

"So our digimon can always DNA digivolve to beat him!" Cody reasoned, smiling at the good news.

"Be careful," Kari admonished."Sometimes a really strong Ultimate can be too much for other digimon at the same level or higher.Like MagnaAngemon."

"'Like MagnaAngemon,'" Davis mimicked bitterly under his breath."Stupid glory-hogging TS and his—"

"Davis, are you coming?" Ken asked, as he and the others went ahead.

Davis gave up and followed them.

"Ah, you've made it," Lazarusmon greeted them as they stepped out into the clearing.

"Okay, you creep," TK yelled, taking a fighting stance."Where are my brother and the rest of our friends?!"

"Look up," he stated simply, pointing one gloved finger upwards.

The twelve of them looked up and saw the six eldest Digidestined tied to the tops of the pine trees.Ropes held them in place and their mouths were gagged.They struggled even harder when they saw the younger children arrive.Each of them was in a separate tree, making a rough half circle in the large, somewhat round clearing.

"Let them go, Lazarusmon!" Davis ordered."You don't want to fight us.You don't stand a chance."

"And what makes you say that?" he chuckled.

"You've got no one to turn into your undead flunkies and our digimon can digivolve far enough to beat you easy!" Davis told him.

Lazarusmon's grin widened."You think I can't resurrect anyone here?"

"You said our digivices protect us," Yolei said, puzzled by his confidence."The older kids have digivices too."

"I said _your _digivices protect you," Lazarusmon laughed with grim hilarity."Your D3s are powerful enough, but _their _digivices, on the other hand…"

"Oh no," Kari gasped, backing away.

"Yes!" he hissed venomously."You weaklings are no match for my latest team._Resurrection!"_

A sickly yellow glow emanated from the six Digidestined in their positions in the trees and they burst from their ropes as they changed form, landing with a thunderous crash on the ground below.In place of Sora, Matt, Tai, Izzy, Joe, and Mimi were now six of the deadliest foes the Digidestined had ever faced:Puppetmon, MetalEtemon, Piedmon, Machinedramon, MetalSeadramon, and Myotismon.

The entire group turned and ran back into the woods.

"If you ever want to live again," Lazarusmon told the six villains, "kill every single one of them.There's one apiece."The six of them charged ahead murderously.

"How are we supposed to fight all those guys?" Yolei asked."It's impossible!"

"I've got an idea," Cody puffed as he ran."They've only got so much energy to spare.If we can tire them out by moving faster than they, we can force them to turn back into the others!"

"Good plan, Cody!" TK agreed, as he and the others grasped their D3s."Okay, everyone digivolve to your fastest forms!"

The six digimon glowed, and in their place were Pegasusmon, Nefertimon, Stingmon, Sumbarimon, Flamedramon, and Shurimon.They each split up, ready to deal with their individual foes that were already hot in pursuit.

Pegasusmon and TK were flying overhead, deciding that staying above the trees would be the best way to see who was coming.The pair were scanning the area when a being exploded from the treetops, laughing maniacally.

"Ooh, cute hobby horse," Piedmon chuckled, drawing his swords."But those things don't usually have legs.I can fix that!Trump sword!"

Pegasusmon dipped below the trees, narrowly avoiding the deadly blades.Piedmon nimbly leapt from tree to tree, trying to find the ones whom he blamed for his destruction in the first place."Why is it that you children insist on playing hide and seek?" he asked, pouting."Well, I'm sick of it.Consider this my way of saying 'Olly-olly-oxen-free:'Clown trick!"

The attack blasted several trees out of the way, knocking both boy and digimon out of their hiding spot in a showerf of splinters and pine needles.TK held on desperately, as Piedmon laughed, drawing a sword and diving in for the kill.

"Just out of curiosity, do you want your hat on when I do it?" he asked.

"When you do what?" TK coughed as Pegasusmon tried to regain his orientation.

"When I mount your head on my wall," he snickered.

"Dive, Submarimon!" Cody ordered his partner as they splashed into the nearby pond."We've got to find a way to keep MetalSeadramon at bay!"

"You two are pathetic," MetalSeadramon sneered, diving in after them."This is just a larger version of shooting fish in a barrel!River of power!"

Submarimon rolled to the side, feeling the heat from the blast as it surged through the water, blasting a creater on the opposite shore.Cody began to sweat in the cockpit."That was close," he wimpered.

"Don't worry, Cody, we'll keep out of his way," assured Submarimon.

Cody mumbled something like, "Sure we will," but he wasn't sure.In truth, he was terrified of the monster that was after them.All he could think about was how horrible it would be to die underwater.

"Why did we get stuck with the big guy?" Yolei wailed from Shurimon's back as he jumped from tree to tree with ease.Behind them, Machinedramon crushed tree after tree, cutting a path of destruction in the forest, thundering after them.

"You can't escape me by hopping, you insects," Machinedramon told them in his steely voice."You will both fall before me as easily as these trees.Giga cannon!"

The two blasts reduced dozens of trees ahead of him into ash.Yolei and Shurimon managed to get to a safe spot between the two blasts and they roared past, only singeing them slightly.When it was over, they stood on a lone tree in the middle of a field of ash.It was no comfort, however, as Machinedramon, towering over them, approached mercilessly.

Shurimon held Yolei fast in his arms and, using his feet as propellors, took to the air.

"Let's keep this battle a ground war," the cybernetic beast laughed hollowly, swatting them both to the ground with a huge iron claw.

"Yolei…?" Shurimon groaned."Are you all right?"

Yolei had fallen nearby.She looked bruised and shaken, but other than that, she appeared to be fine.She slowly got to her feet."Yes, I should be—ow!" she cried, collapsing as she stood on her right foot."I think I twisted my ankle," she told him, wincing in pain.

"If I were capable," Machinedramon stated, moving forward, "I might pity you."

He raised his foot, and stomped down, intending to crush the injured girl below.

"Y'all are startin' to bug me," MetalEtemon joked taking another ungraceful leap at Stingmon, who carried Ken with ease.He seemed to be fairing slightly better than the others.MetalEtemon was simply too slow to catch his faster opponent, and he was already starting to show signs of tiring.

"Ken, the plan seems to be working," Stingmon told his partner as their enemy tried to land an air punch on him, but only succeeded in spliting another tree."This guy is all talk and no monkey shines!"

"All do the lame joke around here!" the incensed primate bellowed."Banana slip!"

The lobbed attack soared in an arc, but Stingmon dodged it and it exploded a short way off.

Ken was pleased with the way things were going and was already feeling confident of victory when he heard someone screaming.He strained his ears and heard it come again.

"Yolei!" he cried in recogntion.Instructing Stingmon to go higher, he saw Machinedramon nearby and watched in horror as he repeatedly tried to crush Yolei and a frantic Shurimon, who was carrying her and seemed only inches away from the feet as they came down.He couldn't keep it up much longer.

"Stingmon, bring us closer to Machinedramon and get ready to dodge!" he called.

Stingmon complied and MetalEtemon gave chase."Don't tell me y'all are leaving the concert already!I've still got an encore to do!"

"You couldn't hit the broadside of Sprial Mountain, you bolt-necked, talentless simian!" Ken taunted, giving him a raspberry.Nearby, Machinedramon noticed the pair hovering close to him.

"What the…?" he asked in confusion, momentarily forgetting Yolei.

"You waste of a good head of hair!" MetalEtemon fumed."You just sang your last tune, little darlin.'Banana slip!"

"NO!" Machinedramon shouted as he saw what was happening.Stingmon zipped to the side and the attack struck the huge digimon, causing him to tumble over onto his side, where he reverted to the form of a barely conscious Izzy.

"We got one!" Ken cried victoriously.He was distracted in his glee, however, and MetalEtemon finally hit home, punching Stingmon out of the air, sending the pair skidding to the ground.

"I hope you two exercise," MetalEtemon laughed, cracking his knuckles as he stood over the helpless pair, "because you're about to climb the stairway to heaven!"

"Ken!" Yolei cried.

"I've got it!" Shurimon hollered."Double star!"

The attack was aimed at a large tree and his bladed hand cut through it effortlessly.It tipped and toppled over, right onto the hapless chrome primate.

"Thanks," Ken sighed in relief, flashing a smile at Yolei.

"Just returning the favor," she chuckled, her cheeks burning slightly.The two reached under the fallen tree and, with the help of the slowly recovering Izzy, pulled out a very disoriented Matt.

"This is more fun than a game of Wack-A-Mole!" Puppetmon laughed gleefully, chasing after Flamedramon as he tried to smash him with his oversized mallet.

"This guy's a major pain," Davis growled to his partner, whose agility was a major asset in evading the repeated puppet pummel attacks launched by the giddy wooden boy."Let's get this over with and toast him like we did Cherrymon."

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Flamedramon agreed, letting Davis get off his back."Fire rocket!" he attacked.

Puppetmon swung his hammer and batted away the flames easily."You shouldn't be playing with fire," Puppetmon warned, wagging a finger."But I think _I _might enjoy it!"Laughing, he sent several strings from his fingers which attached themselves to Flamedramon.

"Davis!" he cried in astonishment."He's moving my body with his strings!Stay back!"

Davis heeded the warning and dove out of the way as Flamedramon uwillingly slashed at him with his long, blade like claws.Moments later, he had to duck an involuntary fire rocket aimed at his head.If this kept, up he would be finished in no time flat.

"Hey, Flamedramon, do you think you can manage another evolution?" he asked his helpless partner.

"Definitely," he answered."It's a good thing we had that lunch on the bus!"

"Then, let's do it."Davis took his D3 and D-terminal and hit a button.A moment later, Flamedramon reverted to Veemon.

"What's that supposed to do?" Puppetmon sneered."He's still a good enough toy to destoy you!"

"If you want to play, we're going to change the rules," Davis said."Digi-armor energize!"

"Veemon armor digivolve to… Raidramon!"

The former Dark Master was befuddled."Is this supposed to scare me?He's still connected to me, you loser!"

"And I'll bet those strings conduct electricity, _loser,"_ Davis shot back.

"Thunder blast!" Raidramon attacked, getting the hint, sending electricity coursing through the strings, directly into the small Mega.It was not a tremendously strong attack, but apparently it was enough to weaken Puppetmon sufficiently, as he vanished and Sora, exhausted, was left in his place.

"What about the others?" she asked, breathing heavily as Davis helped her up.

"You know, I really expected you to be more of a challenge," Piedmon laughed, landing another kick to Pegasusmon's side, finally forcing him to the ground."You two are a complete disappointment, but I'd like to think I got _something_ out of this."He restrained the fallen Pegasusmon with one boot and seized TK by the neck, holding him up.

"All right, little boy, I leave it up to you," he sneered."I've only got a little bit of energy left, so just tell me which one of you dies.If you choose your partner, I'll let you live.After all, you're nothing without him."

"TK, choose me!" Pegasusmon begged."I'll just be reborn in Primary Village!"

TK gasped for breath and gave his answer."…Me."

"Noble gesture!" declared with cruel appreciation."Not that it matters, since I can probably manage to destroy you both anyway!"He pulled back his sword, preparing to deliver the killing slice to the boy, when Pegasusmon managed to lift his head ever so slightly.Just high enough:

"Aquas beam!" he attacked, slamming Piedmon in the midsection, knocking him off him with the blast from his head, also loosening TK from his grasp.

"That's it, you're glue!" Piedmon roared as TK dashed away."Trump—ugh!"

He never finished his attack as Pegasumon jumped to his feet and, acting as fast as he could, used his back legs to kick Piedmon in the chin, sending him flying backwards into a tree.His energy used up, he returned to the form of Tai.

"Tai, are you okay?" TK asked him.

"TK…" Tai moaned, recongnizing him through tired eyes."Kari… is she all right?"

"Gatomon, you treacherous little feline," Myotismon cackled, "I'm going to enjoy killing you and your partner more than you can imagine."

"Actually, I can imagine it," Nefertimon scoffed, flying ahead of the vampire."It's probably as much as I'll enjoy defeating you again."

"You can't stop me without your friends," Myotismon laughed contemptously."Grisly wing!"

A swarm of bats flew at the two of them, threatening to tear them to shreds, as Nefertimon counterattacked."Queen paw!"

The tiny shots from her front paws blasted away the cloud of bats, but behind it, Myotismon was ready."Crimson lightning!" he attacked, lashing the two of theme in the side.Both cried out in pain as they tried to remain airborn.

"I'll make you both regret ever having stood against me."Myotismon now wore an expression of pure hatred as he pried Kari from Nefertimon's back, lashing the wounded digimon repeatedly with another crimson lightning attack."You've become weak, Gatomon," he snarled, sending her to the ground, where she de-digivolved."As punishment, you can watch as I drain this girl of her life one drop at a time."

Gatomon screamed in protest as Myotismon held the struggling Kari fast, forcing her head away as he prepared to sink his fangs into her neck.

"No!" shouted a new voice.Myotismon turned just in time to see Raidramon and Davis slam into him, Raidramon catching Kari and Davis hanging about the vampire's neck.

"What do you think you're doing, you insolent brat?!" the undead king demanded trying to pull Davis off his back as they struggled in midair.

"The name is Davis," he informed him with pride."And if you want to mess with Kari, you'll have to go through me!"

"Child, when I get my hands on you, I'm going to have you pureed and fed to Vilemon!" Myotismon roared.

"Aw, don't do that, you'll just make the Vilemon sick!" advised TK, flying onto the scene with Pegasusmon.

"Star shower!" attacked Pegasusmon, striking the struggling vampire with the numerous attacks.

With a frustrated howl, Myotismon finally succumbed and reverted to Mimi in midair, leaving her and Davis to hurtle toward the ground.Pegasusmon swooped low and caught Mimi.Davis fell below the trees and thought he was going to hit the ground when he suddenly landed safely in someone's arms.He looked up and saw Kari's face.

"Gotchya!" she said, smiling at him."Thanks for the save."

Davis grinned like a dope. "You're welcome," he told her, still in her arms."You know, I could stay like this for—"

She dropped him onto the ground unceremoniously."I said 'Thank you,' not 'Make yourself at home,' Davis," she chuckled.

"River of Power!" MetalSeadramon attacked, this time nicking Submarimon's back fin.

"I can't take this much longer, Cody," he informed his partner."We've got to attack if we're going to weaken him."

Cody looked over his shoulder at the vicious beast pursuing them.He was gaining, despite Submarimon's speed, and, tired as he was of trying to keep up in the small pond, he was still strong enough to continue attacking.

"Okay, I've got an idea, but we have to time it just right," Cody told him uncertainly."Just do exactly what I tell you and we might be able to beat him."

MetalSeadramon watched as they dashed straight ahead.They were in perfect range for another attack.

"You just left yourself up the creek without a paddle, kid," MetalSeadramon remarked."River—"

Before he could fire the attack, however, Submarimon turned around and ran straight for him, ramming himself, much to the aquatic Dark Master's surprise, in between his jaws.

"Wha da?" he asked in astonishment at their bold move.

Cody made a face of disgust, as he was getting a close view of the back of MetalSeadramon's throat.He shook it off and gave the order:"Now!"

"Oxygen torpedo!" Submarimon called, blasting his foe in the tonsils at point blank range.

MetalSeadramon coughed, expelling the pair and sputtering as he thrashed about in the water.Now that he was momentarily distracted, Submarimon sent a volley of torpedoes into his soft, unplated underside.When it was over, MetalSeadramon floated to the surface and shrank back to the tiny form of Joe, who bobbed helplessly in the water.

Submarimon skimmed along the surface, ferrying Joe to land, where they joined the other Digidestined.

"Thanks for the lift," Joe told Cody, coughing weakly.

"You did great, guys," Tai congratulated them."That Lazarusmon guy is still out there, though."

"Not for long, he isn't," TK declared.

"Easy there, kiddo," Matt chuckled."Just play it safe and don't get overconfident."

"Don't worry about us," Davis told them."We're going to stop him, no matter what we have to do."

The group of them went back to the clearing, where Lazarusmon was waiting smugly.He smiled at them when he saw they were all there."Well done, children," he congratulated."I must admit, you handled things beautifully.Now, however, the time has come for you to face me."

"Hold on, Lazarusmon!" Davis cried, stepping forward."This can't be what you want!I saw the same things you did… how can you want to see any more killing?"

"To free myself of the feel of death about me every day, I'd kill _anything,"_ he told them bitterly."I'd kill gladly and willingly.And now, I'm going to try to do just that."

"We don't have a choice," TK exclaimed to the group."If we don't put him down, this will never end!"

"He's right, Davis," Lazarusmon agreed."Don't concern yourself with me.After all, I'm already dead."

The Digidestined were finished mincing words, and as Lazarusmon waited by patiently, the six digimon became three ultimates, DNA digivolved to their strongest forms available.

"It's time to send you back where you came from!" Paildramon shouted, drawing his pistols."Desperado blaster!"

The shots struck him repeatedly, splitting holes in his black costume and causing him to stagger backwards, but he shook his head and recovered easily.In fact, he seemed to be enjoying himself.

"Excellent!" he laughed."I've been waiting for this day for years!"He made a fist and thrust it forward, sending out several bursts of black energy, each one resembling a skull."Lost souls!" he screamed.

The attack pummeled Paildramon multiple times and he realized that Lazarusmon was stronger than they had thought.

"Need help?" Silphymon asked, stepping ahead."Static force!"

Lazarusmon made no move to avoid the attack and laughed as he was burnt by the blast."Good, but you can do better than that!Like this:Vengeful spirits!"

A pool of black appeared beneath Silphymon and a huge black fist burst from it, tossing him high into the air before he crashed to the ground in a heap.Shakkoumon floated forward threateningly.

The armored angel noticed that despite Lazarusmon's energetic mood, he was limping in pain, burnt and probably wounded worse than one could see.If he kept this up, he would only destroy himself.

"Listen, Lazarusmon," Shakkoumon tried to reason."If you don't stop, you'll just get yourself killed!"

"Lost souls!" Lazarusmon attacked, ignoring him.The attack barely dented his plating however, and Shakkoumon remained unfazed.He rushed forward, ramming him with his full weight, knocking him backwards.The smaller foe stumbled as he got to his feet, still not surrendering.He was bleeding from several cuts now, but he refused to surrender.

"Vengeful spirits!" he bellowed.The quick attack caught the slower Shakkoumon off guard and knocked him to the ground.

"Looks like we have no choice," Paildramon called to his comrades."Desperado blaster!" 

"Static force!"

"Kachino bombs!"

The attacks rained down on Lazarusmon, who was tossed about helplessly as the attacks took their toll on him.When it was over, he collapsed onto a nearby tree, his goggles smashed and his uniform in tatters.Smoke rose from his body and his breathing came in harsh, gurgling rasps.The six children came over to him, looking down on their beaten foe.

"I'm sorry," Davis told him sincerely.

"Don't be," Lazarusmon laughed weakly."This is what I wanted."

"You wanted us to destroy you?" Ken asked.

"Yes," he replied, grinning knowingly."This is just what I had planned."

"But why?" Kari asked."Why would you want it to end like this?"

At that, Lazarusmon seemed to laugh even harder, which sent him into a fit of coughing.At first, they thought he was going to answer.Instead, another black cloud appeared and swallowed him up.When it cleared, he was gone.

"Where did he go?" Davis wondered aloud.

"Maybe he went somewhere to die alone," Cody supposed."Maybe he thought it would be better that way."

Davis looked off in the distance, as if in thought."Maybe…"

"All right!" Mimi cried jubilantly to the others.They were all sitting at an abandoned cabin on the campgrounds, awaiting their friends' return, and Mimi was the first to spot them.

Tai grinned as Davis, his sister, and the others emerged from the forest."I knew they'd make it!" he declared proudly.The rest of the older children stepped forward and then started running to them to congratulate them on finishing the job.

"Hey, we can handle anything!" Davis called to them as he and his group ran to meet them halfway.

Before they could reach each other, however, there came an odd, yet familiar voice.It spoke one phrase, but the iciness of it struck all of them as they ran:"Shadow of Death."

From seemingly nowhere, six black, shadowy forms flew at them.Before anyone knew what was happening, they had taken positions under the six eldest Digidestined.Then, in one moment of horrible surprise, they blasted upward with a beam of pure darkness, momentarily enveloping the six children.When it cleared, the six younger ones and their digimon partners watched in horror as their mentors' knees went weak and they collapsed limply to the ground.

As long as Kari Kamiya lived, she would never forget the look in her brother's eyes as he stared at her in that moment.They were like a doll's eyes:glassy, blind, unseeing, as if they looked right through her, taking in absolutely nothing.

"Tai!" she cried, going to her fallen brother's side."Tai are you all right?" she asked, taking his hand.

There was no response.

"Tai?" she asked, her voice quieter now."Tai, please wake up!Tai!Tai! _Tai…"_

Davis, Ken, Cody, and Yolei watched as Kari's pleading voice became much more distressed and soon she was shuddering there by her brother's side.

They looked to TK, who was by Matt's side.He was holding his brother's hand in his, silently.He put his head to his chest for a moment.Then looked back to his confused friends.He had tears in his eyes and his lower lip trembled.He didn't say a word, but merely shook his head in sorrow.

The others, unbelieving, went to the others, checking and rechecking pulses, listening to chests, calling out names in cracked, pleading voices.But it was not long afterwards that the horrible truth hit them.

The six eldest Digidestined, the six dearest friends they had ever had, were dead.

To be continued… 


	4. At Rest

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**Resurrection 3, Part 4**

**At Rest**  
  


Cody Hida looked down at the tall boy, his eyes closed behind his glasses, his arms folded across his chest, and the dirt brushed off his jacket after he had fallen to the ground. He was lying on his back, lifeless now, as the other Digidestined were. Somehow, they'd all found the strength to carry their fallen friends, one by one, to the nearest cabin and it was there they laid them. Someone, he couldn't remember who, made the suggestion that they cross their arms and close their eyes. It was utterly amazing to Cody that they had been able to do it without losing control. They had managed to do it, calmly and reverently, despite the fact that each of their hearts was breaking. The grief hadn't quite hit Cody yet. There was only the dull, aching pain of his loss. Even as he stared down at his friend's body, he still couldn't believe, no matter how much he willed himself to understand the truth, that Joe Kido was dead.

He stifled a sniffle as he looked upon the tranquil face of the older boy. "You know what, Joe?" he asked the silent young man. "I always thought of you as my older brother. I mean, I never had any brothers or sisters, so I can't really relate to the others the same way. Even Ken had a brother, but he's… well, you know."

Cody started as he made the connection. Now he knew how Ken must have felt. Ken was about the same age when Sam was killed, and now Joe was gone, leaving him alone.

He choked back another sob and went on, bracing his resolve to say what he wanted to. "We first met that time in the polar area, when we came to help Gomamon. You were amazing, the way you pulled out those hand warmers and everything. You seemed so ready for anything. Good old reliable Joe. Later on, you helped me that time we found the Digiegg of Reliability. If it wasn't for you, I don't think I'd have ever felt like I deserved it."

He fell silent again, heaving a sigh, then continued. "I can't believe we aren't going to be doing anything like that again," Cody went on. "I feel like I did when my dad died. I don't really remember that much about him. I was really young when he died, and I wish I knew him better. I feel the same way about you, Joe. You and I were two of a kind. TK and Kari told me that you used to be nervous all the time, but I can't picture it. You seemed like you were in control all the time. I wish I'd had the chance to know you the way they know you. I wish that I'd gotten to know you better, Joe…"

  
  


Ken looked at Izzy bemusedly. Each of the Digidestined were kneeling near their respective mentors, more or less, but each seemed to want to be alone. If he had known that Cody was feeling the same guilt as he was, that he hadn't known the older kids as well as he would have liked, he might have felt a little less embarrassed.

Still, he supposed he knew Izzy better than any of the others. Izzy was the first one to come and visit him after he had ceased to be the Digimon Emperor, and the two were kindred spirits, since they were both so intelligent and shy as well. Izzy had lent him that copy of _My Brain, My Buddy_ as promised, but he hadn't returned it yet. And, now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure what he would do with it. It was Izzy's book, but he wouldn't be using it now.

He twisted inwardly and looked away from the red-haired boy, who seemed so dignified and at ease now. When Sam died, it was the same thing. He wondered desperately about what Izzy would want, now that he was gone. In Sam's case, there were all the things left in their room, things that were once his. On one hand, the things he'd owned were useless to a dead person, but then, they were still _his_, weren't they? Then again, maybe Izzy would have wanted Ken to have his book. He tried to think about it, and came to the conclusion that Izzy, being the caring person he was, would have gladly let him have the book. Why?

"Because we were friends," Ken whispered, now starting to tear up, realizing how much he liked the computer genius. As smart as he was, Izzy had the experience and was the one who ended up teaching him. Still, Izzy encouraged him to continued learning, to try to understand the world around him better, and that, he supposed, was the legacy of this brilliant boy. To advance one's knowledge was a worthy goal, and he would never forget Izzy for it.

Now he was crying much more freely, and he felt something rub against his arm and gazed downward to see Wormmon looking up at him with concern.

"What's the matter, Ken?" Wormmon asked. "Did you know Izzy that well?"

Ken shook his head. "Don't get me wrong, Wormmon," he assured him softly. "I'll miss Izzy and I am crying because he's… But, it's more than that." He took a deep breath, and let it out heavily. "I'm wondering if I'm cursed or something. It seems like everyone who gets closer to me dies. Sam, you, and now Izzy."

Wormmon didn't have an answer, but only nuzzled Ken's arm again, embracing his hand with his tiny little legs. And, at the moment, it was more important to have a close friend nearby than to have an answered question. Ken knew in his heart that even Izzy would agree with that.

  
  


Davis looked around at all his friends, both those still living, and those that were now dead, victims of Lazarusmon's attack. When the time came for them to say a word or two to their older counterparts, Kari had immediately went to Tai. He personally wanted to say some things to Tai, but Kari wanted to be alone with her brother, and he had too much respect for both of them to interfere. His second choice would have been Matt, but TK was there, and he supposed it was only right, since they were brothers. He wondered if he ought to be talking to her right now. He felt ill prepared to say his goodbyes to one he only knew through his hero. Still, Sora was a Digidestined, and more importantly, she was a friend.

Sora was laid on her back as well, and he noticed a stray strand of red hair the wind had blown onto her face. He carefully moved it with his hand, clearing it from her face. He cocked his head to one side, now seeing her in full view. With her eyes closed, her lips parted slightly and the tranquility that was about her, he realized how beautiful she really was.

That, for some reason, was the thing that had made him start crying. Davis had recalled something in the past couple days, but hadn't told anyone else yet. He remembered the first time he met Tai was shortly after he met Kari. He had kicked a can of soda that had splashed onto Tai, who, rather than getting angry, invited him to a soccer game. That was where he met several of them, but since the majority of them only played that one time, he only remembered Tai and Kari. Still, when he recalled it, he remembered Matt, TK, and Sora had come as well.

"That was when you started tennis," he laughed aloud, softly to the lifeless girl. "I remember Tai was so mad because you didn't want to play soccer with him anymore. I think it always bugged him that you and him stopped hanging out together as much as you used to. The thing that really bothers me is that you two never really talked that much with each other. You always came close to getting together, but nothing ever happened. Now, I guess, we'll never know what would've happened between you two."

He laughed again, holding Sora's hand. "I see why he liked you," Davis told her. "You're smart, good at sports, and you always cared about the people around you. Remember that time when we went to save Biyomon from that Old West town and met Starmon? I think seeing how much you cared for Biyomon and how much you took care of Yolei when we first became Digidestined was one of the coolest things about you. I don't know what things are going to be like without you, Sora."

Davis sniffled a little bit and accepted a pat on the back from Veemon. "Hey, Davis, don't be upset," he told him, his slight speech impediment always present. "Don't worry, you'll see her again when she gets reborn."

Davis looked to Veemon, realizing that his partner didn't understand. "It… doesn't really work that way with humans, Veemon."

Veemon looked puzzled. "You mean… they don't come back? Ever?"

Davis shook his head.

"Then, what happens when you guys die?" he asked.

"We don't know," Davis replied, choking a little. "We just know that when they're gone, they're gone."

Veemon looked at Sora, his brown eyes getting watery as well. "Gee," he sighed, his voice now heavy, "I'm really gonna miss you Sora."

  
  


"I guess I never really told you, Mimi," Yolei was saying, "but you meant more to me than you'll ever know. The first time I met you, I felt an instant connection, like we were sisters or soulmates or something. You're so confident and beautiful and you could always be more open than I could."

Yolei wiped away a few tears before replacing her glasses. She gave Mimi a weak smile that rapidly deteriorated into a sorrowful frown, her lip trembling as she tried to speak. Mimi looked as she'd never looked to Yolei before. The girl who had once been so energetic and vivacious now had a look of frozen lifelessness on her face. The beauty of life that had once shown in her eyes was now gone. Even before she'd shut her eyes for her, they had gaped widely, blindly, devoid of the uninhibited emotion Mimi was known for. The change was too tragic to bear.

"I still want to be just like you someday," Yolei whispered as Hawkmon came over, placing his winged hands on her arms. "That's how I'll remember you. I'll do everything I can to be as good a person as you were."

  
  


"You were the best older brother I could ask for," TK told Matt, his voice breaking. He tried to get himself under control, but amid his tears and the choked sobs he was trying to keep down, it wasn't easy. Still, he compelled himself to keep it together for Matt's sake.

"When I was a baby, I can still remember you being there for me," he went on. "When we went to the Digiworld for the first time, you were there, protecting me with your life. Sometimes you took it too far, but you always made me feel special when you tried all you could to make sure I was safe. I was so young, but even when I felt like crying, you made me feel important and never let me give up. It was because of you that I got my Crest to glow."

TK stopped, once again feeling the hard lump in his throat, knowing that he was on the verge of blubbering like a little child. He used to cry all the time, but he had grown up a bit, and now he almost never cried. He felt like crying now, more than he'd ever felt like it in his entire life, but he refused to surrender to the urge, because he still wasn't finished speaking to his fallen brother. He took a breath, and tried again.

"I'm never going to be the same without you, Matt," he told him. "Without you around, _nothing_ will be the same. Dad's going to be alone. And Mom. And… and me. I don't know how I'm going to make it without you, Matt. It's just too hard to do this on my own…"

Finally, despite his best effort, TK's grief got the best of him and the tears came freely as he took his older brother up in his arms, his body heavy and unresisting. He held him and didn't want to accept the fact that Matt Ishida would never be there to guide him again. "I love you, Matt," he whispered. There were a million things TK wanted to tell him, but that was the only thing he really needed to say.

  
  


"I think you would have laughed at me if I ever told you this, Tai," Kari told her brother, "but I always thought I'd die before you did. You were older and you always jumped into things, so I didn't think you'd understand. But the truth is that you were always so strong. No matter what happened to you, you always came back stronger than before. When we fought Myotismon the first time, he came back and we didn't think we had a chance. But you and Matt's digimon were the ones that digivolved high enough to beat him. And when Demidevimon attacked you and I thought it was my fault, you came out through for me, and for all of us. I know that was a while ago, but I'll never forget how strong you could be, and I always assumed that you would live longer than me or anyone else I knew."

She turned to Tai now. She had been avoiding looking at him, unable to face her strong, older brother, who had gone through so much, but had been cruelly torn from her in the blink of an eye. Now, she felt she had to look at him, because he deserved to be remembered to his face. She would show him that she could still be strong enough to face the truth, no matter how horrible it was.

"The way you kept me safe from Myotismon, or when you came after me and that Agumon seven years ago at Heighton View Terrace, or when we were lost under Machinedramon's city, or--" she made herself stop, realizing that she was becoming hysterical. "I'm sorry, Tai. I'm so sorry I let you down. I wish there was something I could have done to stop him, but now, after everything we've been through, everything you did for me is over. Because I'm too weak, and I-- I-- oh, Tai!"

She threw herself upon the boy's chest, sobbing uncontrollably and hating herself for her weakness, but also knowing that Tai could never hate her, that he loved her as much as she loved him, and that he wouldn't want her to feel this way, blaming herself for what she could not help.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see TK, his eyes red, looking at her with the compassionate understanding of one whom had also lost a brother. She stood and hugged him close, and he returned it. "Oh, TK," she sobbed. "What do we do now?"

TK, voice broken and strained, simply replied, "I don't know, Kari. I just don't know."

They heard a little cough and saw Davis, his eyes also wet, standing nearby. "I… uh," he stammered. TK and Kari nodded and opened their arms and he came and joined in the embrace. Kari felt a tap on her shoulder and saw Yolei, with Cody holding her hand, and they too were let in the circle. Ken stood nearby, but made no move to indicate he wanted to join them, but Davis and the others made a space in the circle and Ken, relieved, went to them as well. The digimon came to them then and formed a circle around their human counterparts. The children stopped for a moment and took up their partners and held them in the circle.

And for a while, there was nothing but silence as they held each other, united in their loss, the love they shared for those brave friends who had died so suddenly bonding them together, each one eternally grateful that the others were there, so that not one had to cope with it on their own.

  
  


When they stepped out of the cabin, it was the mid-afternoon. The wind was a little colder, but it was still a nice day. They all thought it somewhat strange that the sun should shine on a day like this, and wondered at the birdsong and the peaceful whisper of wind as it blew threw the trees. It was a beautiful day, in fact, and none of them could understand why the world seemed so content when six wonderful people had just died.

"So, now what do we do?" Yolei asked. "Should we call the police or something? And what do we tell our parents? And their parents! We really have to tell everyone the truth, don't we?"

"Yolei." Ken's voice was soft and comforting and his hand on her shoulder made her feel a little better and she calmed down.

Just then, however, they all heard Kari as she gave a startled little cry.

"What is it?" Davis asked. She didn't respond, but pointed out into the woods. They all looked in the direction she indicated and saw a small, black pool emerging from the woods. It was globular and amorphous and it moved along the ground just as Lazarusmon's shadow of death attack had. But it moved slowly, menacingly, as if it was taking its time and wanted to savor taking another victim. The digimon threw themselves in the way of their partners, but were surprised to see that the pool stopped short of the cabin steps.

"What is it?" Cody asked.

"It's dark energy," TK answered with certainty. "Just like the kind Lazarusmon used."

None of them knew what to make of that and wondered at the pools appearance, but none of them were prepared for what happened next: it began to change form and it took the shape of characters as it spelled out a question.

It asked, _"DO YOU WANT THEM BACK?"_

"Yes!" cried Kari.

The pool reshaped and said, _"GOOD."_

Then, it spelled out, _"LAPTOP."_

They all looked to Yolei. "You think it means Izzy's laptop?" she asked. "Why? What does it want with it.

The pool formed a new phrase, this time sounding a little more threatening: _"LAPTOP. NOW."_

This time, it made an arrow, pointing to the ground directly ahead of the cabin steps. They waited for it to say more, but it simply left the arrow and waited. Finally, cautiously, her eyes never leaving the pool, Yolei turned on the laptop and set it down in front of the dark arrow.

The dark energy rushed to the ground underneath it and swirled below it. It then shot up, surging through the laptop, causing the screen to blur and scroll, and for a moment Yolei thought that it had scrambled the thing's circuits, but when it was over, the screen appeared normal.

However, before she could retrieve the laptop, a window opened and a sound file began to play.

"Hello, children," said a hushed, familiar voice. They all realized with a mixture of rage and surprise that it was Lazarusmon. "I suppose you know who this is. I have taken your friends' lives, as they are necessary for my plans, but there is a chance to bring them back. I'm only giving you one chance, though. Normally, my section of the Digiworld is off limits to those traveling through the Digiport, but I'm giving you a chance to come after me. Just use the door you're given. Please accept my apologies and understand that this will all be over soon."

The window closed and then, before their eyes, a Digiport appeared and opened. The display through the window was dark and if one looked closely enough, one could see some kind of swirling movement. Those who had been near it, Ken, Cody, TK, and their digimon, knew exactly what they were seeing. The Dark Whirlpool.

"What do you think we should do?" Yolei asked.

"What else?" Davis retorted, as if the answer was obvious. "We go through! If we've got a chance to save Tai and the others, I say we do it! They'd do it for us!"

"I'd have to agree with Davis on this one," Hawkmon concurred, flashing a grin at Yolei. "I believe that we ought to stop him before anyone else is harmed."

TK nodded, but turned to Patamon. "You guys would be fighting him," he reminded them. "Are you sure you're strong enough to fight?"

"Sure!" Patamon squeaked confidently. "We've handled creeps lots tougher than him!"

"I'm with ya all the way," Armadillomon urged. The others also nodded, giving their assurance and thus the whole lot of them turned to the Digiport, D3s in hand. They were all sucked in, each one desperately hoping that they could succeed in that haven of darkness.

  
  


The group found themselves standing in a massive circle. The ground was sandy and harsh, like the bottom of the sea, which was accurate, since they were, technically, at the bottom of the sea. Far above them was a pinprick hole of sunlight from the sky far overhead. All around them, the waters of the whirlpool rushed by them. They were pitch black and Cody shivered as he watched them, wondering if the strange figures he saw grinning at him from the blackness were real or of his imagination. He shuddered as he realized that they were almost certainly real and went over to TK, who seemed equally uncomfortable in this evil place.

"I've got this weird feeling," Davis mentioned. "It's in the pit of my stomach, like there's something wrong, but I don't know what it is."

"Welcome to my world," Ken laughed ruefully. "I felt this place when I came here as the Digimon Emperor. I tried to get rid of it, but sometimes I wonder if it's ingrained in me."

"Hey, man, don't talk like that," Davis told him, clapping him on the back. "You've got us to help you out this time!"

Davis sounded more confident than he felt. He was nervous as well, but he wasn't letting it get to him. He was the leader of this group, that was what Tai said. What was good enough for Tai was good enough for him, so if that meant being the one to bolster confidence, that was what he would do.

Still, there was something eating him. Something that had struck him during the battle with Lazarusmon that he noticed, but couldn't put his finger on. Whatever it was, it was important. He had to figure out and soon, because… because…

"He's here," Davis said aloud. He could feel his presence amid all these others, these dead digimon who had, for one excruciating second, all been crammed inside his head.

"Correct, Davis," Lazarusmon's booming voice came to them.

"All right, come out, Lazarusmon!" TK shouted. "You've got a lot to answer for and we're here to make you pay!"

"I don't blame you for being angry, TK," he went on, "but you don't yet understand what you're up against."

"We beat you once and we can do it again, for all our friends!" Yolei cried, feeling weird speaking to someone she couldn't even see.

"Ah, but that was something I had planned on," Lazarusmon chuckled. "When you defeated me, I was mortally wounded. I knew I could not defeat you, so I allowed myself to be driven to death's door. It is only at that time that I can use my Shadow of Death technique. It worked perfectly."

"You killed my brother!" Kari screamed in rage.

"Don't worry, little one," he soothed. "You'll be reunited soon. You see, I have learned much about the digivolving process involving you children from my past encounters with you. I have learned that the digivices allow you to easily transfer life energy to your partners. In essence, you share your life force with them. The digivices and D3s do it efficiently, and I tried to find ways to use it to my resurrected digimon's advantage. Both times, there were problems. Demidevimon was incompatible and was warped to the point of killing him. Gazimon was killed because he had linked his own life to the digivice. I, however, have found a way to use the life energy from a Digidestined without use of a digivice."

"You mean…" Cody stammered. "You've…?"

"I used my attack to drain the Digidestined of their life energy. The process was less efficient, so I needed them all. They had to be Digidestined, and since their digivices don't protect them from my power, I absorbed their energy to both save my life and to digivolve."

Lazarusmon exploded from the black, swirling wall and into full view. He stood high above them and announced himself in a horrid, thunderous voice. "You may call me SkullLazarusmon."

"I'll call you more than that if you don't give our friends' lives back!" Davis shouted.

"If you want them, you'll have to fight for them," SkullLazarusmon laughed, sending a chill down his spine. SkullLazarusmon was a huge, towering creature, at least twenty feet tall, and probably taller. Gone was his humanoid form, now he was a creature of bones. He was covered, from head to toe, in bony plates and skeletal claws. His head was a grinning skull, the teeth sharp and serrated. From his back was a long flowing cape, adding an air of dark nobility to this dark prince. He looked extremely powerful, and the very sight of him was enough to frighten his smaller foes. Now a Mega digimon, he looked infinitely more dangerous than he had appeared before.

"Guys!" Davis called to the digimon. They were ready and in moments, SkullLazarusmon was facing Paildramon, Silphymon, and Shakkoumon.

"Who's first?" he asked smugly.

Paildramon leapt into the air, the guns at his sides raised. "Desperado Blaster!" he attacked. The bullets ricocheted off SkullLazarusmon and he leapt up to meet him. 

"Death Touch," he growled. A ball of red energy appeared at the tip of his clawed index finger and he jabbed forward with it. He struck Paildramon in the chest and, instantly, the combined digimon crumpled inward, falling to the ground as Chibimon and Leafmon. Davis and Ken ran to their regressed partners and picked them up.

"What happened?" Davis asked.

"He knocked all our energy right out of us," Chibimon replied wearily.

"They ought to consider themselves lucky," SkullLazarusmon boomed. "If they were normal digimon or if they weren't digilolved higher, they'd both be dead from that attack!"

Davis gritted his teeth, knowing that now there was nothing he could do now but watch. Still, something told him that there was something going on that he needed to see.

"Okay, Silphymon!" Yolei called. "We need someone faster, so just attack and keep out of his reach!"

Silphymon obeyed and flew nimbly around SkullLazarusmon, who, with all his bony protrusions, as menacing as they were, was too slow to keep up with him. When he saw an opening, he attacked. "Static Force!"

The ball of energy slammed into his arm, but it did little more than leave a trace burn mark and a little smoke. Still, Silphymon wasn't about to give up and moved about the lumbering SkullLazarusmon with ease.

The undead creature was prepared for this however, and suddenly shouted, "Deaht Grip!" causing a ring of blackness to shoot from his gaping mouth faster than Silphymon would have thought possible. The ring wrapped itself around Silphymon, stopping him in midair. He tried to fly away, but the ring held him tight and levitated him near SkullLazarusmon.

Davis watched as SkullLazarusmon pulled his immense arm back and punched Silphymon as hard as he could, sending him flying, much to Kari and Yolei's dismay, into the swirling black water encircling them.

Silphymon burst from the wall of water, digging his hands into the ground as strange, black figures pulled at his legs, as if trying to bring him back into the wall. Kari, Yolei, and Ken tried to pull him free of it, as Davis looked from them to SkullLazarusmon, studying his face. Finally, the trio lost their grip and Silphymon was pulled back into the whirlpool. They all heard him scream out in his twin voice before, in a flash, Salamon and Poramon were expelled from the water.

"Two down," SkullLazarusmon told Shakkoumon.

"Justice Beam!" Skakkoumon attacked, blasting the monster at full force with the beams from his eyes. The attack pushed him backwards, and he stumbled a bit, but didn't look particularly injured.

"Death Touch!" he countered. To everyone's surprise, the attack didn't force Shakkoumon to de-digivolve, but it did dent his hard exterior.

"It looks like my armor is resistant to that attack," Shakkoumon remarked. "Let's see if you can stand up to mine. Kachino Bombs!"

The disks Shakkoumon fired from his steely body exploded on contact, sending tiny fragments of bone as they damaged his plating.

"Excellent!" congratulated SkullLazarusmon. "But, I want this to be over, and if that's the best you had to offer, then you obviously have no chance. I'll end this now."

From all around him, streams of dark energy were drawn from the Whirlpool and they flowed into his body. He put his hands together, as if holding them up to guard, then brought his arms back. "Permanent Midnight!" he howled, and released a huge beam of dark energy that blasted Shakkoumon, washing over him to the point of blotting out his entire body, as huge as it was. Bolts of black lightning were expelled as he poured the seemingly endless attack onto his foe. When it was over, Shakkoumon, his steel hull cracked and dented, fell to the ground, where he regressed to Tokomon and Upamon.

All the children gathered around their fallen partners, who were obviously too weak to fight. Whatever happened now, one thing was certain: they would not be able to fight, no matter what came at them.

"You have been beaten, children," SkullLazarusmon said, not gloating but sounding somewhat saddened. "You may take comfort in knowing that you will soon be reunited with your friends. You did not defeat me, but you can take comfort in knowing that you can meet them in the next life."

They were all in a huddled little group, and they watched in horror as he reared back, preparing to send out another Permanent Midnight attack. They knew that it would obliterate them completely, that there would be no escape and no survival and they all gripped each other's hands as they braced themselves for the inevitable.

"Don't worry," he soothed. "This will be over very quickly."

Just as he was about to unleash the attack, however, a voice shouted, "Stop!"

SkullLazarusmon peered down and saw Davis staring up at him indignantly. "What is it?" he asked.

"I'll tell you what," Davis snarled confidently. "If you really are honorable, you'll give us a last request."

SkullLazarusmon was confused, but he felt it only right. He didn't want to kill them at all, in fact, but it was necessary. He supposed there was no harm, so he nodded.

"Don't kill us like that," Davis ordered. "I want you to kill us one by one, in a row, by jabbing us through the chest with your bare hand."

The entire group of them, SkullLazarusmon included, gaped at him.

"Davis, have you gone nuts?!" Yolei shrieked.

Davis looked to her with complete seriousness and, despite her objections, was quieted.

"Child, why would you ask for something so horrible?!" SkullLazarusmon demanded. 

"It's my request, so do it!" Davis snorted. "Right now, while the others watch. Go ahead and kill me first."

SkullLazarusmon took a step back, utterly amazed that Davis would ask for such a thing. The others all rushed to Davis's side, but he brushed them off roughly, telling them to go stand nearby and watch, giving Chibimon over to Ken.

He looked up at SkullLazarusmon unflinchingly. "Go ahead."

SkullLazarusmon couldn't understand why he'd asked, but he couldn't say no at this point. Davis stood his ground, staring at him with hard, brave eyes. The huge creature pulled his arm back and braced himself. He looked over to the group of his friends. Not one of them had dry eyes and each one was exercising every bit of their control to keep themselves from begging Davis to reconsider. Still, SkullLazarusmon strengthened his resolve and thrust forward with one sharp finger as he rushed in for the kill.

Davis closed his eyes at the last second, expecting his gruesome end to come then, but breathed a sigh of relief when he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and saw SkullLazarusmon frozen inches from his chest, his claw-like finger quivering in the air like a timid animal.

SkullLazarusmon collapsed like a sullen child. "I can't do it!" he howled. "I can't kill you so cruelly in front of your friends in such a horrible way! Why did you ask for it?! I can't do it, I can't do it!" he repeated.

Davis chuckled a little bit as Chibimon hopped over to him joyfully. "I knew you couldn't do it," Davis told him. "I know what you have to go through and I know you hate violence. I saw it in your eyes every time you attacked. You winced every time you hit one of your digimon, because you hate hurting them. You were willing to hurt them and us to get rid of those voices, but you couldn't live with yourself if you had to kill us like that. You wanted it to be clean, but I wouldn't let you. You killed our friends as quickly as possible, but if you want to kill us, then you'll have to do it our way."

SkullLazarusmon sighed. "Isn't there another way?"

"Lazarusmon," he went on, "if you kill us, both worlds will be in danger. If the forces of Darkness are freed, they may not be in your head anymore, but they'll be out there in both our worlds. If you go through with this, millions more will die and it will be all your fault. You'll have to live with death all the time, knowing that this time, you killed them."

SkullLazarusmon let out a heavy sigh. "You're right, child," he admitted sorrowfully. "There is only one thing I can do. I've never had the courage to face it, but now, seeing what choice I have, I'm not afraid to do it."

He stood above them and they looked at him confusedly. "I will lose all my memories and never again return to what I was, but perhaps it will be for the best if I start again. Thank you for giving me the courage to do this, Digidestined. I am in your debt."

SkullLazarusmon shuddered for a second, then, in a brilliant explosion, six balls of white light emanated from his body. They swirled around above their heads and they all watched in fascination.

"What are they?" Cody asked.

"The lives of the older kids," Kari laughed. "He let them go!"

"Yes," SkullLazarusmon confirmed, his voice weak. "But without their energy, I can no longer sustain my own life. I will leave this misery here in the Dark Whirlpool, where it belongs. The core of my being will return to Primary Village, where I will begin anew. My only regret is that I won't remember you to thank you."

Those last few words were little more than a hoarse whisper. When he finished, the Digidestined watched solemnly as SkullLazarusmon's body began to literally fall to pieces, his bony plates dropping off one by one, clattering on the floor until he crumbled in on himself, his skeletal body disintegrating as it was deleted. The six orbs that were the life energy of their friends flew upward, out of sight as they soared to the sky.

"Do you think they went back to the older kids?" Yolei asked.

"There's only one way to find out," TK replied.

  
  


The six children and their digimon stepped out into the light of the setting sun, back on Earth. They walked up the steps and looked at one another unsurely. Kari reached for the handle to the door hesitantly. She held it, but then let her hand drop.

"I'm afraid," she confessed.

"We all are," Yolei told her, giving her a reassuring smile, "but we have to find out some time."

They opened the door and a sigh of deep disappointment escaped them. The six older Digidestined were still lying there, completely lifeless.

"It didn't work!" Kari wailed, rushing to her brother's side, taking his hand in hers, wringing it profusely.

"Ow, hey, Kari, that's my hand!" Tai yelled, sitting up straight.

Kari's eyes went wide and then, laughing tearfully, she threw her arms about his neck. "You're alive!" she laughed. "You're alive! You're alive!"

"When did you become Dr. Frankenstein, Kari?" Tai asked, bemusedly.

"Hey, keep it down over there," Matt grumbled, sitting up.

"Matt!" TK laughed, running over to his brother, tackling him joyfully.

"Geez, what is with you guys, we fall asleep and you go psychotic!" Matt grumbled, laughing in spite of himself.

"I don't know about you, but I really needed a nap," Sora remarked, getting up and stretching her back.

"Studies _have _shown that an occasional power nap can help maintain energy throughout the day," Izzy remarked, coming over to Sora.

"Do the studies say anything about being hungry when you wake up?" Mimi whined, rubbing her growling stomach.

"No," Joe moaned, still on the floor. "No, that's my teddy bear, you big bully. You can't have it, it's my teddy bear, it's mine!"

"Joe, wake up, buddy," Tai laughed. "No one's trying to steal your pwecious widdle teddy bear."

"Oh, that's good," Joe said groggily, "because if they were I'd--" he stopped in mid-sentence as the others tried not to laugh. "Uh, I'd tell them that isn't my teddy bear. You know, since I don't have one."

  
  


Davis and the others were walking to the bus stop, when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned and saw it was Kari, grinning at him warmly. He almost melted.

"What is it, Kari?" he asked dreamily.

"Well, I wanted to tell you that I thought it was a really brave thing you did back there, and because of you, we got everyone back. So…" she fumbled with the words and then, to Davis surprise, kissed him softly on the cheek.

Davis froze, a grin on his face, as Kari said, "That's for saving my brother."

As she walked away, Davis closed his eyes, flushed with pride. He was about to start walking again, when he felt another peck on his cheek. He opened his eyes, wondering how lucky he could get, expecting to see Yolei or maybe even Kari again. He turned and almost screamed when he saw TK standing there, grinning like the cat that just ate the canary.

"Yeah, thanks for saving my brother, too," he told him, slapping him on the back and continuing on ahead. Davis was frozen like a statue, his mouth agape and his eyes bulged as wide as they would go.

"What did you do that for?" Kari asked TK as he caught up with her.

"I was just messing with his head," TK laughed.

"It was fragile to begin with," Ken remarked, seeing that Davis still hadn't moved. "I think he's catatonic."

They went over and waved their hands in front of his face, not getting much more response than an occasional blink. He remained that way on the bus ride home and on the way to his apartment, where his behavior was explained as a reaction to the latest horror film. His family, not sure what to do, smeared his body with lotion and put him to bed, where he remained stuck to the sheets for the better part of a week before regaining basic, normal functions in the form of getting TK's name wrong.

  
  


**The End**


End file.
